Promoting British Values

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 Department for Education defines British Values as follows:

• Respect for democracy and support or participation in the democratic process
• Respect for the basis on which the law is made and applies in England
• Support for equality of opportunity for all
• Support and respect for the liberties of all within the law
• Respect for and tolerance of different faiths and religious and other beliefs

At Overdale, we ensure that the British Values are introduced and embedded through the ethos of the school. All curriculum areas provide opportunities for further understanding of these concepts, with real world application in RE, and Personal Development. Our assemblies and class discussions encourage our children to be creative, unique, open-minded and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and of others in our school, our local community and the wider world. 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 to the world.

At Overdale, we promote the British Values in the following ways:

Democracy

We have our very own school council with elected members from each class, this starts with Year 2, with Year 1 members elected later on in the year. All children are encouraged to put themselves forward, and are given the chance to present their application to their peers. A ballot is held and two pupils from each class are elected.

During school council meetings, members are encouraged to express their views, make decisions and vote on changes that they wish to make. Decisions that are made are also discussed with the headteacher.

Voting stations are present within each classroom and each class vote daily for the story they would like to listen to at the end of the day.

We encourage all children across the school to share their views and ideas in the classroom, and have the confidence to speak up if their opinion differs from their peers. Children collectively discuss and decide upon the pasta treat as part of our whole class reward system.

We teach pupils about the right to disagree with someone, and how to have respectful debates. We participate in Parliament Week, where children get the opportunity to learn about the UK government.

Individual Liberty

At Overdale, children are encouraged, and given the freedom to make choices. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their choices, this is taught through RSHE, PSHE, and Computing regarding e-safety. Children are taught how to deal with and resolve conflicts evenly and fairly, and how to manage their feelings during RSHE and PSHE sessions. Our children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms, and are taught how to exercise these safely through the PSHE curriculum.

Respect and Tolerance

Respect is one of the core values of our school. This can be seen and felt in our pervading ethos in school. The pupils know and understand that it is expected and imperative that respect is shown to everyone, whatever differences we may have. Pupils are helped to acquire an understanding of, and respect for, their own and other cultures and ways of life. Through the PSHE, RSHE and RE curriculums pupils are encouraged to discuss and respect differences between people, such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexuality and differences of family situations. We offer a culturally rich and diverse RE curriculum in which all major religions are studied and respected, and children are given the opportunity to immerse themselves into the religion to give them a deeper understanding of respect and tolerance in the context of their learning.

Rule of Law

The importance of laws and rules, whether they are in the classroom, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout the school day. Rules and expectations are clear, fair and regularly promoted through our behaviour policy. All children follow the stop start rules, and they are taught that rules are made to keep us safe and happy. Children are taught to distinguish right from wrong, and that they are made accountable for the choices that they make. We are also committed to praising children’s efforts. Children are rewarded not only for achievement in curriculum areas, but also for behaviour. Rewards are given in the form of stickers, earning pieces of pasta which contribute to a whole class reward, and certificates for demonstrating any of the school values.