Great British Values

We acknowledge that the Department for Education has reinforced the 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.

We believe that the ethos, culture and values of our school support and reinforce these British values. Our values are PEACE, TRUST, JUSTICE, FORGIVENESS, HOPE and PERSEVERANCE. We work actively to support pupils to develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to ‘Learn, Serve, Shine’ in life in Modern Britain.

Democracy

Pupils have the opportunity to express their views and opinions through class and school councils as well as through other voting opportunities such as awards and prizes including May Fair posts of responsibility and the Arnold White Salver Prize. They are consulted each year in a range of questionnaires to gather their views, ideas and experiences. In our curriculum they learn about the democratic process in our country. They are encouraged to be reflective and questioning learners.

The Rule of Law

The importance of, and need for, rules is consistently reinforced in class and around school both for behaviour and for learning. There is a clear reference to how rules govern and protect us, the responsibility on all for making them work and how there are consequences for breaking the rules. Within a Christian context they are taught about ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and explore the challenges that they can face in doing the right thing including dealing with peer pressure.

Individual Liberty

Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices within a safe and supportive environment. They are reminded of the need to think about not just their ‘rights’ but also their ‘responsibilities’ and to think about how their individual choices may affect others. Within the curriculum, PSHE and collective worship often offer an opportunity to look at personal choices but this occurs across the curriculum.

Mutual Respect

Trust and justice are at the heart of our school’s values and are reinforced within class learning and collective worship to emphasise the need to value each individual, their views, their beliefs and their lifestyles. The school is an inclusive community. No discrimination is tolerated within school.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

Our pupils are supported through the whole curriculum, through RE and through collective worship to develop a growing understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society. We are particularly aware that we need to support our pupils in a mainly white British school to experience a society and world that is much more diverse than their daily lives.

We believe that no child in our school can fulfil the school motto of ‘Learn, Serve, Shine’ without clearly demonstrating the values above in school and in their daily lives.