British Values

British Values Strategy

Meadow View Primary School is proud to say that we are a thriving, multi-cultural School serving families from many countries, cultures and faiths. We actively promote British Values in order to create a respectful, welcoming environment where everyone is valued for being their wonderful selves.

We teach children that Britain has its own Core Values, that bind us all together as a country, and that make all who live here special.

Democracy
Rule of law
Individual liberty
Mutual respect
Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

We strategically teach our children these values through the environment, curriculum and wider experiences.

Curriculum

Our curriculum is intentionally designed so that pupils develop a strong sense of self, but also learn to appreciate that not everyone has the same experiences, thoughts and values as you.

Children learn within KS1, what’s our place in the world, comparing and contrasting the UK to Kenya and beginning to understand the differences between towns and cities. In Lower Key stage two children develop a deeper understanding of the UK and compare this to the Mediterranean and in UKS2 children understand how inland and coastal UK compare along with a greater understanding of South America and in particular Brazil.

We intentionally study a range of influential people who are representative of our community and who embody the British Values.

Throughout our curriculum we ensure we avoid negative stereotypes, ensuring everyone is valued and empowered to be proud of their heritage.

Reading is central within our curriculum. We have intentionally chosen books to be part of our curriculum, novel time, library and reading spine that are representative of all of the cultures and families that we have in school.

Assemblies

Each week all children participate in a British Values focussed assembly. These assemblies are strategically planned to provide children with a deep knowledge and understanding of the British values and cover topics such as:

Embracing our differences
Community
Police
Respect
Becoming responsible
Voting and elections
The right to have a voice
Helping others
Government

Our School Environment

Our school environment is intentionally representative of the community we serve. Each nationality that is present in school, is respectfully represented through a display showing where in the world the country is, the country’s flag, what food is traditionally eaten in that country, what landmarks, architecture or natural features that the country has. These are some examples below:

The children adore these displays. They enjoy talking about their food and experiences to others, finding similarities and differences. This encourages pupils to be respectful about each other’s heritage but promotes an interest in diversity.

We encourage all of our pupils to develop a strong sense of self and be proud of who they are. These messages are strategically dotted around school through displays and resources chosen. An example of this would be:

We have an intentionally diverse staffing structure that is representative of our community including staff from different religions, ethnicities and gender.

PSHE

Within our PSHE curriculum children learn a great deal about tolerance and the rule of law. They learn that every family is unique and every family is special, they learn how to foster caring and respectful friendships, how to have safe online relationships and how to be safe within the community. They explore the laws surrounding safety, drugs, alcohol and sex and how the law protects us. They learn to live within the law and how to report issues of concern to the correct authorities.

Respect for all faiths and beliefs is promoted in the teaching of RE as children gain a greater understanding of religious diversity and practices for those religions represented in our school and the UK. We teach the Rotherham agreed syllabus in RE, with an emphasis on the religions of our school: Muslim, Christian and Hindu. The aim of RE teaching has 3 elements, ensuring that all pupils:

Know about and understand a range of religions and world views, so that they can:

Describe, explain and analyse beliefs and practices, recognising the diversity which exists within and between communities.
Identify, investigate and respond to questions posed by, and responses offered by some of the sources of wisdom found in religions and world views.
Appreciate and appraise the nature, significance and impact of different ways of life and ways of expressing meaning.

Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and world views, so that they can:

Explain reasonably their ideas about how beliefs, practices and forms of expression influence individuals and communities.
Express with increasing discernment their personal reflections and critical responses to questions and teachings about identity, diversity, meaning and value.
Appreciate and appraise varied dimensions of religion.

Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and world views, so that they can:

Find out about and investigate key concepts and questions of belonging, meaning, purpose and truth, responding creatively.
Enquire into what enables different communities to live together respectfully for the wellbeing of all.
Articulate beliefs, values and commitments clearly in order to explain reasons why they may be important in their own and other people’s lives.

Promotion of the concept of “fair play”, following and developing rules, celebrating and rewarding success, accepting defeat and participating in activities that promote cooperation with others and inclusion for all form an integral part of the PE curriculum, and our extra-curricular sporting calendar.

Pupil Discussions

As part of our oracy learning, all children from F2 to Y6 engage in a structured discussion each week, This session promotes freedom of speech and enables pupils to understand that it is ok not to agree on everything, with people with opposing viewpoints able to respectfully live in harmony alongside each other. We have strategically chosen discussion questions that support the teaching of both the school values and British Values. Each key stage has a different question to focus on that are increasingly challenging and thought provoking. Examples of these include:

The Big Question

Meadow View Primary School promotes democratic processes through termly pupil voice activities and a vote around ‘The big question’ which is set by senior leaders. Children see how they are listened to and how their actions can produce results when the processes are followed.

House Captains

In school we hold annual elections for each of the 8 Y6 house captains. There is a job description for the role of the house captain and each member of the Y6 cohort who would like to be a candidate within the election writes a speech explaining how they will fulfil the job description and delivers it in each class. Pupils are then given a voting slip on which they can place their confidential vote and place it in the ballot box.

Involvement in key local and national events:

Each year Armistice Day is remembered and children are encouraged to reflect on this. Children always attend an assembly on this day, engage in some direct teaching and participate in the minute silence.

Each week, KS2 pupils watch an episode of Newsround and discuss a topical world issue that has been covered within the programme, considering alternative perspectives and the impact upon the world. This would include any coverage of general elections and the implications for the nation.

We celebrate a range of religious festivals in school each year including Eid, Diwali, Christmas and Easter.