British Values
At Oldbury on Severn Church of England VC Primary School we uphold and teach pupils about 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 British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.
We take opportunities to actively promote British Values through collective worship and whole school systems and structures such as electing our school Eco Reps. We also actively promote British Values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values.
We reinforce these values regularly and in the following ways:
Democracy
Democracy is an important value at our school.
It teaches our children how they can influence decision making through a democratic process and helps children to express their views. Literacy lessons include teaching ‘persuasion’ as a non-fiction text type. In speaking and listening tasks, children are encouraged to learn how to argue and defend points of view.
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.
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 and to authorities such as the police, fire service etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.
We are committed to praising children’s efforts. We endeavour to praise the children informally, individually, during group work, in front of the whole class and the whole school. Children are rewarded not only for achievement in curriculum areas but for behaviour and displaying Christian values such as friendship and respect.
Children’s achievements are recognised during Celebration assemblies held each week and in our termly Values Celebration assembly.
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. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, e.g. signing up for extra-curricular clubs.
Mutual Respect
Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy are based around core Christian values such as ‘respect’ and ‘responsibility’ and these values determine how we live as a community at our school. Collective Worship is based on ‘Values for Life’ which are central to how we expect everyone to go about their life at our school. We teach children that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and the rights of others.
Tolerance of Those 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 large white British. Collective Worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. We use opportunities such as curriculum topic work to learn about life and culture in other countries – this helps our children experience a broader, multi-cultural aspect of life, widening their usual experiences.
Our RE schemes of work ensure that each class learns about Christianity and one other major World religions.
