At Esh Church of England Primary School we strongly believe in upholding British values through all aspects of our school provision.
The five British values that the Government has identified for schools to focus on are:-
- Democracy
- The Rule of Law
- Individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
- Developing personal and social responsibility
- Respect for British Institutions
We uphold the British value of Democracy by:-
- facilitating a democratic process for electing school councillors and the running of the council.
- teaching about the democratic process in Britain, at both a local and national level. We teach about communities and pressure groups, how children can participate in these and make changes to life at all levels from local to global.
We uphold the British value of the Rule of Law by:-
- teaching children an understanding of human rights, in particular the UNICEF rights of the child, as part of being a Rights Respecting School.
- implementing our school and class charters which have clear and agreed statements, and ensuring that the children know their own right and respect the rights of others.
- teaching children to learn about the process of law-making and the part that citizens can play in that process.
- implementing our procedures and protocols for dealing with the very rare incidents of racial, homophobic and other forms of discrimination, which 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 our RE and RRSA curriculum, which inculcates values of understanding, tolerance and respect for others, including those of other faiths.
- teaching children an understanding of human rights, in particular the UNICEF rights of the child, as part of being a Rights Respecting School through assemblies and class lessons.
- providing our extra-curricular provision, which offers equal opportunities for boys and girls in sport and other areas.
- directing part of our Pupil Premium funding to ensure that pupils from less advantaged families have similar opportunities to their more advantaged peers to engage in school life.
- holding discussions in RRSA, RE, English and other subjects, which allow children to develop respect for the opinions, values and beliefs of others.
We uphold the British value of developing personal and social responsibility by:
- expecting children to responsibility in many ways in school including running the library, helping in the school office, being playground buddies amongst others.
- expecting children to take responsibility in every class for a variety of roles which assist in the running of the classroom.
- encouraging children to have responsibility for their own possessions, behaviour and work, both at school and at home and to always do their personal best in all aspects of school life.
- training staff to deliver information about keeping safe on the internet to all our children and holding information sessions for parents about this.
We uphold the British value of respect for British Institutions by:-
- celebrating many British festivals and special events, e.g. World War 1 week, November 5th, Christmas, Easter, World Book Day, Children in Need, Red-nose day, Harvest Festival 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.
- teaching about the structure and work of Parliament, keeping children informed of major and minor events which can be discussed. Teacher training and children visits to Parliament.
In all our provision, both academic and otherwise, we endeavour to inculcate an understanding of British values and a strong desire to uphold them both now and as future British citizens.
This statement has been agreed by :-
Governors
Teaching and non-teaching Staff
School Council