British Values

Promoting British Values at Langstone Academy

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 Langstone Infant School these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy

We listen to children’s and parent’s voice. Our school behaviour policy is clear that children are expected to contribute and co-operate, taking into account the views of others.

School Council

We have a School Council that meets regularly and makes decisions for the school such as which charitable events we will take part in, what we can do for Portsmouth in Bloom. The School Councillors are chosen democratically by their classmates following an assembly, children in Years 1 and 2 fill out a voting-slip.

Golden Rules and Golden Time

We have six Golden Rules to follow in order to keep a happy and safe school environment. These Golden Rules are intrinsic in our school ethos; each week a Golden Rule is focused upon in an assembly.

The Rule of Law

We consistently reinforce our high expectations of children. Children are taught the value and reasons behind our expectations (rules) that they are there to protect us, that everyone has a responsibility and that there are consequences when rules are broken.

Individual Liberty

Within school, children 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 children to make choices safely, through our provision of a safe environment and empowering teaching. Children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms.

We use 4 animal characters to represent learning attributes – Tough Tortoise – resilience, Sensible Squirrel – resourcefulness, Busy Bee – reciprocity and Wise Owl – reflectiveness. We use these to reinforce behaviour for learning and to promote children’s independence to empower them to make their own choices. These BLP attributes are intrinsic in our school ethos; each week an attribute is focused upon in an assembly

Mutual Respect

Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy has revolved around Core Values such as ‘Respect’, and children are modelled this by caring, sharing and listening to others. The staff help children to understand how to show respect by talking about how actions/words can affect others.

PSHE Curriculum

We follow the SEAL themed approach to PSHE which encompasses this core values through some of the units: Getting on and falling out, Say no to bullyingGood to be me and Relationships.

RE

The units we teach in RE, following the Living Difference syllabus, foster British values. Key concepts are taught through different themes; for example: the concept of Belonging is taught through a unit on Baptism.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

We aim to enhance children’s understanding of different faiths and beliefs by participating in a range of celebrations throughout the year. Children have the opportunity to dress-up in clothes and try different foods from other cultures and we encourage parents/carers to participate and support our multi-cultural events.

PSHE curriculum and RE

See above.

Our School Ethos embeds many of these British values and aims to prepare children to reach their full potential as responsible citizens.