British Values at St Thomas’ Primary School Werneth
At St Thomas C of E Primary School we uphold and teach pupils about British values which are defined as:
· democracy
· rule of law
· individual liberty
· mutual respect
· tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs
We teach these values explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional as well as Religious Education. Additionally British Values are taught through a broad and balanced curriculum. We have achieved the following external accreditations which demonstrate evidence of our commitment to this:
We activity promote British Values through daily collective worship and by ensuring that we provide real opportunities to explore these values, for example by electing and running a school council.
At St Thomas C of E Primary School, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:
Democracy:
Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our school council. The elections of members of the council are based on pupil vote.
Each half term we have a number of focuses around our Christian values. At the end of a half term, children vote for two pupils per class that have made the greatest effort to meet these standards. A certificate of Excellence is awarded to these children.
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. At the beginning of the year children will sign a class charter in each class agreeing to acceptable behaviours.
Pupils are helped to learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. Staff are committed to providing a consistent and predicable environment within the school and beyond. We can help some pupils to understand the connection between actions and consequences. We used ‘Good to be Green’ within the classroom to aid the children in understanding when they are working well and when they need to reflect and make changes to their behaviour. We use yellow and red forms as a consequence to unacceptable behaviour. Additionally we are committed to praising children’s efforts; rewards for consistently good behaviour such as green forms, which are collected for a prize raffle, golden time and weekly good work assemblies are used to reward those making a good effort. This type of environment enables pupils to feel safe and secure; this in turn, promotes the optimum conditions for learning to take place.
Individual Liberty:
Pupils at St Thomas C of E Primary School are encouraged to become good and valued citizens. As a school we provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms safely, for example through E-Safety teaching. We also offer numerous clubs which the children have the freedom to sign up for.
We support others by participating in charitable events such as, Red Nose Day/Comic Relief, Children in Need, Muscular Dystrophy and Macmillan. In addition we run a business enterprise and school fairs where the children’s aim is to participate in fundraising. At St Thomas C of E Primary School we believe that by engendering a caring and helpful environment and by learning to be independent can boost and nurture a healthy self-esteem.
Mutual Respect:
Respect and responsibility are values that determine how we live as a community at St Thomas C of E Primary School. As a school we teach these values through our RE and PSHE lessons, anti-bullying week, the life caravan and sports leaders promoting sportsmanship.
Our school council will be writing and publishing a half termly newsletter for the pupils which will involve working closely as a team to research and create the finished article.
We promote each pupil’s inclusion, where possible, in a range of activities, settings and locations. The children often visit other schools to participate in sports events, community events and shared participation with other schools/colleges.
Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs:
St Thomas’ serves a predominately British Muslim community. We enhance the children’s understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society by giving them opportunities to experience it. For example we participate in the Linking Project where we visit other schools of different cultural and social diversity. We also make links within our RE curriculum, visiting different places of worship and studying different religious festivals.
Pupils are encouraged to experience British Culture through our curriculum themes. For example last year we had a World War one week this year we will be studying Parliament.