Promoting British Values 

The DfE have recently 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.”

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values have been reiterated by the Prime Minister this year. At  Curzon these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways: 

Democracy: Democracy is encouraged within the school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council. The elections of School Councillors are based solely on pupil votes. School council children help choose the charities which we support during the year. 

The Rule of Law: The importance of Laws and rules, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken.

Individual Liberty: Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advise how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice of challenge, of how they record, of participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are often given the freedom to make choices. 

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We teach and promote the concept of DEMOCRACY through

• electing a School Council and following democratic processes in running the Council
• electing our School House Captains
• electing our Wellbeing representatives
• celebrating in weekly awards worship with class votes from staff and children
• consulting pupils, parents/carers through questionnaires on a range of topics
• following child initiated class and playground rules
• appointing ‘ Happy Lunchtime Helpers’ from KS2 to assist the KS1 children at lunchtimes in the dining hall.
• Appointing and training Sports Ambassadors and Mini leaders to assist in supporting games and activities at playtimes and lunchtimes
• Applying peer assessment to identified work through our Feedback Marking Scheme
• Our History curriculum
• Our PHSE curriculum
• Shaping the curriculum and role play areas from children’s ideas

We teach and promote THE RULE OF LAW through

• our School Relationship Policy-
• school worship
• Literacy lessons; opportunities for debating, learning how to argue and defend ideas and views

We teach and promote the concept INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY through

• pupil responsibilities of being monitors, buddy readers, mini leaders,
• providing a wide range of enrichment activities which children can choose from
• E Safety and Safeguarding lessons and activities including working with other services such as the police and fire brigade
• PHSE lessons; keeping safe from harm
• Children choosing their own level of challenge in some lessons
• Anti-Bullying work

We teach and promote MUTUAL RESPECT through

• our school code of conduct/ Home school agreement
• whole school theme weeks
• charity fund raising events
• participating in local community events
• Mutual Respect: Much of our work revolves around Core Values such as ‘respect’, and pupils have been part of discussions and worship related to what this means and how it is shown. This is reiterated through our classroom and learning rules, as well as our behaviour policy.

We teach and promote TOLERANCE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS AND CULTURES through

• school worship
• visits to places of worship
• RE themed weeks across the school
• Themed lunch days
• European Day of Languages
• Visitors in school
• Displays around the school
• Library books and resources for children to access
• PHSE curriculum
• Diverse Curriculum November 2022