British Values

At Tushingham CE Primary School, we value the diversity of the backgrounds of all pupils, families and the wider school community and strongly believe in upholding British values through all aspects of our school provision, particularly worship and PHSE and RSE lessons.

British Values enable us to be good citizens of Great Britain, valuing our communities and celebrating the diversity of the UK.

Promoting British Values is part of the Prevent strategy and promoting British Values enables us to prevent Radicalisation and Extremism.

British Values won’t be assumed because schools demand they are, they have to be arrived at through understanding.

Intent: Our school reflects British Values in all that we do. We aim to nurture our children on their journey through life so they can grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant adults who make a positive difference to British society and the wider world. This compliments the 5 core Christian values we promote: Respect, Generosity, Compassion, Perseverance and Forgiveness.                   

What is meant by British values?

British values include:

• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty 
• mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
• Respect for British Institutions

How should we help our children prepare for adult life as citizens of Britain?

• Develop their self-confidence and self esteem.
• Develop their understanding of right and wrong, and their respect for the law.
• Encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour.
• Encourage involvement in the community and wider society.
• Encourage respect for the public services and institutions of Britain.
• Promote tolerance of and respect for all cultures and faiths.
• Encourage participation in the democratic process.

Implementation: How does our school develop children’s understanding of British values?

We uphold the British value of Democracy by:

• facilitating a democratic process for electing Tushingham VIVA's.
• Voting in class eg for which book to read
• teaching about the democratic process in Britain, at both a local and national level. We discuss how children can make changes to life at all levels from local to global.
• taking turns 
• learning about the democratic systems at a local and national level eg writing to MP's.

We uphold the British value of the Rule of Law by:

• using The Tushingham Way
• enabling students to distinguish right from wrong and encouraging students to accept responsibility for their behaviour through our trauma-informed behaviour policy
• teaching children to learn about the process of law-making and the part that citizens can play in that process.
• teaching about the structure and work of Parliament and elections
• responding to any very rare incidents of racial, homophobic and other forms of discrimination swiftly and thoroughly, prioritising education to enable prevention. This demonstrates to pupils that we take these issues very seriously, mirroring the attitudes of British society.

We uphold the British value of Individual Liberty and work to identify and combat discrimination by:

• teaching an understanding of the concept of freedom and choice.
• teaching our RE curriculum, which includes values of understanding, tolerance and respect for others, including those of other faiths.
• teaching children an understanding of human rights
• providing equal opportunities for all children, boys and girls, and children with Special Educational Needs in all areas of the curriculum and extra-curricular provision.
• enable students to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem, and self-confidence.
• holding discussions in RE, English and other subjects, which allow children to develop respect for the opinions, values and beliefs of others.
• encouraging children to show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely. To show courageous advocacy by contributing to charity work and standing up for what they believe is right.

   

We uphold the British values of Mutual Respect and Tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs by:

• Our strong school ethos of 'Love one another for love is from God' which is the golden thread through all we do.
• teaching children how to keep safe on the internet and holding information sessions for parents about this.
• In Collective Worship, RE and PHSE and RSE, teaching children to embrace diversity and respect and value different cultures and beliefs.
• Positively representing diversity eg in books and resources 
• diversity being represented in visitors and trips
• Celebrating everyone’s uniqueness eg 'All different, all unique' display in entrance, talent show, achievements from home in celebration worship, achievements at all levels celebrated with Headteacher golden stickers, value stickers and teacher rewards.

We uphold the British value of Respect for British Institutions by:

• celebrating many British festivals and special events, eg. Remembrance Day, Christmas, Easter, World Book Day, Children in Need, Red-nose day etc.
• regularly inviting representatives from various groups, such as Police, charities and the local church to visit our school and talk to the children in both lessons and assemblies.

In all our provision, both academic and otherwise, we endeavour for our school community to develop an understanding of British Values and a strong desire to uphold them both now and as future British citizens.