How does Christ Church C of E Primary School promote British Values?

To help ensure that children leave school prepared for life in modern Britain, the DfE issued guidance to all schools on improving the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of children through the promotion of fundamental British values.

At Christ Church C of E Primary School, we aim to develop a climate where the British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs are embedded at every level and lived through our curriculum, Christian ethos and values. As outlined in our aims and vision, we encourage our children to be creative, unique, open-minded and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and of others in our school, our local community and the wider world. Our school motto, Always Be Kind, is also rooted at the heart of everything we do and helps to guide and support our aim to nurture our children on their journey through life so they can grow into safe, compassionate, democratic, respectful adults who make a difference to modern Britain and the world.

Here are some of the ways we promote British values at Christ Church C of E Primary School:

Democracy

As a school, we aim to help children understand how people can influence decision-making through the democratic process. We value pupil voice and the role children have in guiding and shaping school improvements. Through our work during Anti-bullying week, our children developed the rights and responsibilities charter that permeates all aspects of school life at Christ Church. We also ask the children about their learning, their concerns and ideas about how we can make things better. We do this through our School Council and through pupil questionnaires. Indeed, our School Council meet regularly to discuss issues raised by our children and they are also often involved in the recruitment of new staff. We also aim to help children understand the democratic electoral process. At the start of each year, children vote for their House Captains and their School Council representatives. Each class was also invited to vote for their favourite book characters to be incorporated into our library development project. The principle of democracy is also explored through Christian values such as justice and hope in collective worship.

The Rule of Law

At Christ Church, the importance of rules and laws are consistently and positively reinforced throughout the school day. We recognise the importance of helping children to distinguish right from wrong, to respect rules and to learn from their mistakes. As a school, we have three very clear school rules: We are Ready, We are Respectful and We are Safe. These rules are regularly discussed with children in classrooms, through collective worship and through day-to-day interactions. They help to guide and support everyone in our school family in developing positive and respectful relationships as well as a clear understanding of how our actions can impact upon others. Through work in classrooms and collective worship, our children also learn about the importance of having rules and how these relate to laws. The children are also taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws, how they govern and protect us, as well as the importance of taking responsibility for our behaviour and accepting the consequences should we choose to break rules or laws. Adults in school also model how perceived injustice can be peacefully challenged through our interactions with children and the school’s behaviour policy. Keeping safe when using the internet and social media is also regularly discussed with children in computing lessons and in collective worship. Christian values such as compassion, justice, service and forgiveness also help us to explore the rule of law and consider its meaning and importance in our daily lives.

Individual Liberty

Within school, our children are actively encouraged to show initiative and make independent choices, knowing that they are in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment. As a school, we positively encourage children to make choices and empower them to exercise their rights and freedoms, knowing that they can make a positive difference to their own and other people’s lives. Through our distinctive Christian ethos, school rules and motto, we aim to provide support and boundaries for our children to make choices safely and responsibly. At Christ Church, some of the ways we encourage children to make choices include:

• Choosing which learning challenge or activity to do.

• Choosing which extra-curricular clubs and enrichment activities to participate in.

• Choosing lunchtime activities through our playground zones.

• Choosing how to support and get involved in charity and fundraising events.

• Choosing which extra responsibilities to take such as joining the Worship Team and becoming Play Leaders.

Through collective worship, special services such as Christmas, Easter and Remembrance and Christian values, such as humility, compassion and peace, we also provide our children with regular opportunities to reflect and develop their own self-esteem, awareness and confidence.

Mutual Respect

At Christ Church, mutual respect is at the heart of our ethos, aims and values. Our school motto: Always Be Kind, promotes values such as respect, compassion, friendship and forgiveness and helps to guide our daily interactions and choices. As adults, we actively model respect through the manner we and treat everyone within our school family and we guide and help our children to understand that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those around them. Indeed, all members of the Christ Church school family are expected to show respect for everyone they come into contact with; through demonstrating good manners, taking care of each other and the environment (school and beyond) and for supporting the local and wider community. Our curriculum also promotes collaboration through group and talk partner work across a wide variety of activities in each and every subject. Furthermore, through themed weeks, house events and competitions, sports competitions and festivals, musical performances and additional responsibilities, our children are given a wide variety of opportunities to work with children across year groups, from the Communication and Interaction Centre and from other schools thus helping them to develop an understanding of difference and respect for others.

Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and those without faith

Christ Church is a very warm and welcoming school with an increasingly diverse community. We actively seek to promote tolerance and understanding by embracing diversity and promoting an awareness of different faiths, beliefs, cultures and traditions through our curriculum, including Religious Education and PSHE. Children and parents from different faiths or religious backgrounds are also encouraged to share their knowledge to help enhance and enrich learning within classes and across the school family. Our children also visit different places of worship including Christ Church, Gloucester Cathedral and the mosque in Gloucester. We also seek to promote tolerance by encouraging personal thinking skills and reflection throughout our curriculum and day-to-day experiences, including: faith, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexuality and understanding different home and family situations. At Christ Church, we also actively challenge anyone in our school community who displays prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour contrary to fundamental British Values.