The Department for Education has introduced a statutory duty for schools to promote British Values more actively, and to ensure they are taught in schools. It states that there is a 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 were reinforced by the Department of Education in 2014. At Moorside Primary Academy these values are reinforced regularly and promoted through our assemblies, curriculum and everyday life.
Democracy - Children, parents and staff all have various opportunities for their voices to be heard.
Pupil Council - Each year every class elects a new pupil council representative. Each candidate makes a speech to their class about why they want to be the new rep and how they will make their class voice heard. The class then have a secret, democratic vote and the pupil with the most votes is elected. The runner up becomes the Deputy Pupil Council Rep. The reps then hold regular class meetings where their class get the opportunity to have their voice heard and any suggestions are then brought to the next pupil council meeting. Pupil council make decisions on a regular basis and often meet with various members of staff to discuss issues raised at the meetings.
Roles and Responsibilities - Many of our pupils have roles and responsibilities around school and have been votes to do some of these by their class mates. These include: house captains, Vice captains, lunchtime monitors, playleaders, sports leaders, team captains etc.
Pupil Voice - Pupils are regularly given the opportunity to fill in questionnaires and surveys about lessons, playtimes and lunchtimes, clubs, homework, etc.
Parent Voice - Our parents are also given the opportunity to have their voice heard through parents? session and questionnaires.
Visits and workshops - To help with the understanding of democracy and British Values we invite visitors in to our school to talk to our Pupils about this. Recently we had a visit from a member of the Parliament Outreach Team who delivered an assembly An Introduction to Parliament?. A group of pupils visited London and took a tour of Parliament, after which they met with our local MP Angela Raynor.
Rule of Law
Our pupils are aware of the importance of laws whether they are in the classroom, in our school or in the outside world. They are taught the value and reasons behind them, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. These laws are embedded in our school ethos and are reinforced everyday through assemblies, class rules and pupil choices.
Class Charter - At the start of every school year each class decide on a list of rules for their class, these are then typed up, every child signs it and they are put on display in the classroom. By doing this every pupil is agreeing to follow them.
School Values - All pupils follow our school values SMILE and ROCK. These are the foundation of our school ethos and are reinforced regularly through assemblies and PSHE. Our pupils wear their Moorside SMILE everyday and all ROCK. They understand the importance of being Safe, having a positive Mindset, being Independent, Learning and going the Extra-Mile. As well as being positive role models they are always Respectful, Orderly, Calm and Kind.
Visits and Visitors - We regularly have visits from the public services to talk to our children about being safe and the Law. These have included visits from: fire services, police officers, PCSOs, Tameside road safety unit, railway safety, internet safety and a member of the Parliament outreach team. In addition to this our Year 6 pupils visit Safe Squad where they learn about Laws, Anti-social behaviour and much more.
How do we Promote British Values at Moorside Primary Academy?
Individual Liberty
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. We educate and provide boundaries for our pupils to enable them to make choices safely. Our pupils recognise that everyone has rights but with some of those rights comes a level of responsibility.
Pupil Choices - All pupils are given various opportunities to have their voices heard through Sports Council meetings, Pupil Council meetings, Class Council meetings and pupil questionnaires.
Curriculum - Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and are advised how to do this safely for example, through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Furthermore in other lessons, pupils are given the freedom to choose their own level of challenges.
Extra-curricular clubs - We provide a wide range of lunchtime and after school clubs which our pupils are given the freedom to choose to participate in. In addition to this some of our older pupils run their own lunchtime clubs (at their own request) for our younger pupils.
Mutual Respect
Respect is one of our core school values at Moorside ? ROCK (Respect, Orderly, Calm, Kind). Our pupils learn how to treat each other and adults around school with the upmost respect. They show this everyday by the way they treat other people, both in the classroom and on the playground. The core value of Respect at Moorside underpins our work every day both in and out of the classroom.
Curriculum Days – Every half term we have a curriculum day where the pupils move around the classes taking part in different activities. Sometimes there are a mixture of pupils from each year group in each class therefore they get to work with people from other classes that they might have never met before. The older pupils then support the younger ones with the activities. In order to work together they need to show respect, team work and cooperation. Our curriculum days so far this year have included: Roald Dahl Day, Respect Day, Fire Safety Day and Careers Day.
Curriculum and everyday school life - Our pupils learn how to respect others through everyday school life. In PSHE lessons they learn about empathy, respect, listening to others and much more. Peer marking helps them to offer suggestions to each other, in a sensitive and constructive way to support moving their work forward. ROCK bands are given to pupils in assembly who show they meet all four strands of ROCK.
Tolerance of those of different Faiths and Beliefs
Our core value of Respect ensures tolerance of those who have different faiths and beliefs. At Moorside Academy we develop pupils understanding of different faiths and beliefs through religious education curriculum, PSHE, assemblies and reflections. Our pupils understand that we are part of a culturally diverse society and have opportunities to experience different cultures.
Links with other schools– We have various links with other schools outside of the UK which groups of pupils and staff have visited. These countries have included: China, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Turkey. We have also had pupils and staff from these schools visit our school, where our pupils have learnt about their cultures and beliefs.