Promoting British Values

The DfE have 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.”

Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development and Fundamental British Values

At Berry Hill, we take every opportunity to actively encourage children to seek Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development.  Our school is proud of the provision we have developed over a sustained period to ensure that these values are embedded throughout our curriculum and daily school life.

Mutual Respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

Our children know that they will be listened to with respect and understanding.  They also know that they are expected to behave in the same way towards all members of our school.  Children are given opportunities to discuss their feelings and thoughts and are taught the importance of showing respect to those who have different viewpoints.  All of our work has an underlying ethos of respect for people, equipment and the surroundings.  We give children a range of opportunities to experience other faiths and cultures to help them to understand that differences are valuable.

Berry Hill is a culturally diverse school that embraces and celebrates different faiths and beliefs. Assemblies are regularly planned to address this issue either directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. Our RE and PSHE teaching reinforce this. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school. Children visit places of worship that are important to different faiths.

Democracy and Individual Liberty

Democracy is embedded at the school. Pupils are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. Pupils also have the opportunity to air their opinions and ideas through our School Council and regular questionnaires. The elections of the School Council members are based solely on pupil votes, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action.

Within each class, the children make a range of decisions regularly.  All our children have a chance to be involved in decision making.  They use a ballot system to choose who will represent their class as School Council representatives.  They also vote to decide on their own class rewards when they achieve 25,50, 75 and 100 team points.  In many lessons, children choose their own level of challenge so that they become more resilient learners.

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 our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely; examples of this can be clearly seen in our e-safety and P.S.H.E. lessons. Whether it is through choice of challenge; of how they record; of participation in our numerous extra- curricular activities; our pupils are given the freedom to make choices.

The Rule of Law

The children are involved in setting the school and class rules and updating them when necessary.  Through this they develop an understanding of the link between behaviour around and outside school.  Older children think about how our rules relate to England’s laws.  Our PSHE and E-safety work also looks at the law and fairness for all citizens.  Children understand that there are consequences for positive or negative behaviour through the use of our behaviour policy. The importance of laws whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced. The school rules were formed in consultation with pupils, staff and parents & carers. These are displayed on our hand throughout the school. In addition, each class discusses and sets its own rules that are clearly understood by all and seen to be necessary to ensure that every class member is able to learn in a safe and ordered environment. Our pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as our local PCSO's reinfroce this message.

Picture News

Each week in our class assemblies, we choose a current news story, provide an image and a thought-provoking question that children discuss and debate as a class. They explicitly look at the British Values that this links to, along with any included protected characteristics. We then share our thoughts on a whole school notice board to learn from each other's views and opinions.