British Values at Cockerham Parochial CE Primary School

 

At Cockerham Parochial CE Primary School we uphold and teach pupils about the British Values which are defined as:

• democracy
• rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect
• tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

 

These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE).  We also teach the British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.

The school takes opportunities to actively promote British Values through our daily worship led by all teachers and whole school systems and structures such as electing and running a successful School Council. We also actively promote the British values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values. Actively promoting British Values also means challenging pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.

At Cockerham Parochial CE Primary School, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

 

Democracy:

Democracy is an important value at our school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council. The elections of members of the School Council and of Year 6 Prefects are based on pupil participation. Children recommend each other for the Head teacher Values Awards which are awarded to individual children (or classes) who show they are modelling the values of respect, responsibility, perseverance or creativity. The children have worked together and agreed sets of codes which we at Cockerham Parochial CE Primary School actively work and live by; these are our ‘Values for Life’ and ‘Behaviour in and around school’ codes.

 

The Rule of Law:

The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days. Our ‘Traffic Light System’ for behaviour is aligned to an agreed set of codes (see above) and if children are given verbal warnings this is always set against the agreed school behaviour code. Children are asked to identify which aspect of the code they have broken to ensure that this connection is made and understood. Pebbles have been introduced to reward children for being on ‘green’ and living their life by the chosen set of rules, and to reward good behaviour and endeavour. 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. Visits from authorities such as the police, fire service, etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.

 

Individual Liberty:

Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices at our school, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and planned curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our e-Safety teaching and PSHE lessons. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, e.g. signing up for extra-curricular clubs, choose the level of challenge in lessons and are becoming increasingly more involved in child–led learning, e.g. through planning and delivering child led worship and evaluating worship, and influencing how adults deliver content in future worship. 

 

Mutual Respect:

Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy are based around core Christian values such as ‘Respect’ and ‘Compassion’ and these values determine how we live as a community at Cockerham Parochial CE Primary School. Worship sessions are based on ‘Values for Life’ and are central to how we expect everyone to go about their life at our school. Children and adults alike, including visitors, are challenged if they are disrespectful in any way. Values are highly visible around the school and can be seen in posters, certificates and as part of our agreed codes. 

 

Tolerance of Those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity in our local community which is by and  large white British. Worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE.

 

In daily learning, opportunities are created which reinforce the foundation of British Values, for example through their history topic on World War One, children are learning about Europe’s fight for freedom and a democratic Europe.  They are studying the role of women during the war and how this impacted on women’s voices being heard.  Mutual respect is a value learnt from an early age and this is re-emphasised in Year 5/6 with the buddy system of reading with Foundation stage.  Children give and receive respect from their buddies acting as positive role models in the school environment and society.