Promoting British Values
Promoting British Values at Godolphin Primary School
The Department for Education states that there is a need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values were reiterated by the Prime Minister in 2014. At Godolphin Primary School these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways.
Democracy
Democracy is embedded at the school. Pupils are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. Pupil voice is strong; pupils have the opportunity to air their opinions and ideas through our School Council, class discussions and pupil conferencing. We use voting to make decisions whenever appropriate. The elections of the School Council members and Head Boy and Girl are based solely on pupil votes, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action.
Pupil, parent and staff views are valued and feed into our school development priorities planning.
The Rule of Law
The importance of laws whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced.
Our school has three Rules-
- Care and respect everyone and everything,
- Follow instructions with thought and care
- Show good manners at all times
which are deeply embedded in our work every day. Each class discusses these rules regularly to ensure that they are clearly understood by all and seen to be necessary. Our pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. In RE, foundations of civil and religious law codes are studied.
Individual Liberty
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely; examples of this can be clearly seen in our e-safety and P.S.H.E. lessons. Whether it is through choice of challenge; of how they record; of participation in our numerous extra- curricular activities; our pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Mutual Respect:
Respect is at the heart of one of the school rules ‘Care and respect everyone and everything’. The pupils know and understand that respect is expected and it is imperative that respect is shown to everyone, whatever differences we may have and to everything, however big or small. The values embedded in our school rules at Godolphin Primary School underpin our work every day both in and out of the classroom. Year 6 leaders, sports leaders and Year 5 and 6 buddies foster a caring attitude towards others.
Tolerance of Those With Different Faiths And Beliefs
Our school rules ensure tolerance of those who have different faiths and beliefs. Godolphin Primary School enhances pupils understanding of different faiths and beliefs through religious education studies, learning about beliefs and practices from each of the six main world religions across the primary phase; P.S.H.E. work; welcoming visitors to our school and incorporating these studies into our topic work whenever relevant. Assemblies about world issues, as well as discussions involving prejudices and prejudice based bullying, have been followed and supported through our RE and PSHE curriculum. Stories and drama are also used to support breadth of study, our reading scheme reflects life in multi-cultural Britain. Through this our pupils gain an enhanced understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society.