British Modern Values In Practice

Promoting British Values at Easingwold Primary School.

The DfE reinforced the 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.”

At ECPS, we believe that for children to fully understand and appreciate the importance of these fundamental values, they need to be taught to consider what life in school and the UK would be like without them. We also want them to learn about life for citizens across the world who live in countries where these are not part of society or daily life. We do this when we look at current affairs in lessons and assemblies.

The values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

• Democracy:
  Democracy is a core value within our school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our Mini Leaders and pupil surveys. The election of Mini Leaders is based on pupil votes. We take part in UK Parliament Week so that children develop an understanding of how democracy works in the UK and we also have visits from Kevin Hollinrake, our local MP who gives children an insight into his work at a local and national level. Our regular work on debating in the classroom is another opportunity where children get to hear a balanced arguement and then vote for who they agree with putting democracy into practice. Each term we have a variety of different clubs on offer which are chosen by and voted for by our pupils. 
• The Rule of Law:
  The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when discussing behaviour and through school assemblies. 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 emergency services,  help reinforce this message. Year 6 pupils visit Crucial Crew which reinforces the importance of laws to keep us safe and the consequences of breaking them. 
• Individual Liberty:
  At Easingwold Primary School pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advise how to exercise these safely, for example through our online safety work and PSHE curriculum. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices in a variety of ways. For example, they have choice of participation in our range of extra-curricular clubs, choice of activities at break times and what food option they would like for lunch every day.
• Mutual Respect:
  Respect is one of our three core values and is threaded through all of our work including our Behaviour Policy.  Mutual respect is carefully modelled by the staff through their interactions with children and our assemblies often explore how we show respect and the importance of being respectful to everybody. 
• 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. We learn about different faiths and beliefs in our RE lessons and members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within the school. Throughout their time with us children visit a variety of places of worship. We promote and fund raise for a range of charities to raise awareness of the needs of others both nationally and internationally.