British Values

At St Erme with Trispen Primary School we promote ‘British Values’ through our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education which permeates through the school’s curriculum and is part of our Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum.

In school, we know that development in this area, and any other area of learning, is most successful when values and attitudes are promoted and modelled by all the staff and provide a model of behaviour for our pupils.

‘British Values’ were set out in the Government’s 2011 ‘Prevent Strategy‘ and the British Values are identified as:

Democracy:

Pupils, parents and staff at St Erme are always being given the opportunity for their voice to be heard and when making decisions in our school, everyone is involved. An important part of this learning for our pupils is how we are heard in a polite, and respectful way. We provide opportunities in class to discuss and debate where appropriate and this is built around listening to and respecting others’ views – this is reflected in one of our school rules, being 'respectful'.

An obvious example of Democracy in action in our school is our School Council. Here class representatives are voted for by their peers and attend monthly meetings where decisions and ideas are shared in two way communication – from the pupils and to the pupils. Each meeting is chaired by a one of our school governors and there is a clear agenda and actions that arise from each meeting. Our School Council doesn’t stop at this though; Council members lead class and whole school assembly inputs as well as working across the school carrying out surveys and ‘fact finding’ missions.

Rule of Law:

We involve pupils in setting codes of behaviour; helping pupils to make decisions and choices that are acceptable to the school community and society at large. Within our classrooms and other areas of the school, when ‘rules’ need to be put in place to help keep us all safe and learning, the pupils are part of this decision (showing clear Democracy) and importantly, are helped to learn ‘why’ rules are important. From having a sound understanding of the need for rules in our school environment, they appreciate the importance for the local, national and international communities too.

Pupils are helped to learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. Staff are committed to providing a consistent, welcoming and predicable environment within the school and beyond and model our expectations to pupils. Being part of an environment like this ensures that our pupils feel safe, secure and happy and as such – this helps the children follow another of our school rules being 'ready' to learn.

Individual Liberty:

Pupils at St Erme are encouraged to become good and valued citizens. We do this by supporting each pupil to become as independent as possible and considering what we, as citizens, expect from each other. Some pupils will be able to take responsibility for particular roles and to understand that with certain rights comes a level of responsibility such as members of our School Council or School Prefect. Learning to do things independently is an important part of learning to understand yourself. We support others by participating in charitable events such as, Red Nose Day/Comic Relief, Children in Need and other local community events.

Alongside rules and laws, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment and empowering education, we provide boundaries for our young pupils to make choices safely; for example:

choosing activities to take part in during lessons or break times
choices about how they show their learning in class and through homework
choices around the participation in extra-curricular activities
choosing groups to work on a task and dividing roles and responsibilities

Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are taught how to exercise these safely, such as in our e-safety and PSHE lessons.

Mutual Respect:

At our school we have school rules and these rules are not simply ‘enforced’, they are modelled and understood. We consider what they mean to us and what they mean to others too. Our school rules are, Ready, Respectful and Safe.

Through our curriculum we learn about other cultures, beliefs and the differences that make each person and community different, special and important.

Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

St Erme with Trispen School serves an increasingly multi-faith community where each person is respected and valued equally without regard to ability, gender, faith, heritage or race.

Cultural appreciation and development forms part of our curriculum. We place great emphasis on providing encounters and participation in events and celebrations to broaden all pupils’ experiences and awareness of others.

Pupils are encouraged to experience British Culture through our curriculum themes.
Through our Religious Education, Geography, History and PHSE curriculum, we learn about others and ensure that where possible, there are opportunities to learn ‘from’ not just ‘about’ other cultures, beliefs and people.