British Values

Nurture, Aspire, Achieve

Democracy

Pupil voice, as well as parent/carer and staff voice, plays a central part in developing school improvement priorities.  The school is clear in demonstrating how pupils should contribute and co-operate and consider the views and needs of others.

. Our positive behaviour policy is centered on ‘Restorative Practice’ which aims to give everyone a voice whilst developing responsibility, empathy and an opportunity to make amends

Actions Taken: 

• Pupil voice through a range of activities including: school council elections, school council meetings, Class votes, class promise, House and Sports Captains, My Health My School Survey carried out annually to obtain pupil voice on many aspects of school life. The results are then analysed and form part of  a school action plan.
• Curriculum: examples include Year 5 Ancient Greeks topic, Year 4 PSHE Parliament topic, Curriculum centered around key questions and often ending in a debate each half term, Poverty topic in year 6 where children wrote to a local MP about their concerns. He then visited school to talk to the children and he wrote replies back to them. The children across school wrote questions to the Leeds Lord Mayor about her role. She kindly videoed her answer for us to share with the children.
• School Council activities: Regular meetings, annual fundraiser activities for Children in Need such as bun sales and Design a tee-shirt competition. Children take part in the Youth Form lead by the Leeds Voice and Influence team. Children get opportunity to visit the Town Hall, to speak to councilors and find out about democracy and how it affects our local area. Children also have a voice in deciding where local youth funding is spent within the local community. The School council have also carried out projects in school. For example, looking at single use plastic in packed lunches and finding ways to reduce it.
• Assemblies - Picture News is used every 2 weeks an this highlights current events for children to learn about and discuss.

Next Steps:  Encourage a local MP to come to talk to the children to answer their questions. Mor explicit explanations of democracy and use of the terminology 'democratic vote'.

The Rule of Law

Staff consistently reinforce high expectations of pupils as part of our school curriculum and procedures. The school has a ‘Behaviour Code’ which all pupils are expected to follow. Each class also has their own ‘Class Promise’. Whenever appropriate, pupils are taught the value and reasons behind these expectations (rules), that they are there to protect us, everyone has responsibility and there may be consequences when rules are disregarded. Our Rethink room processes reinforce Restorative practice and children are encouraged to reflect on their behaviour in light of the Behaviour code. Visits from the Police, Fire Service etc are a feature of our curriculum to reinforce their role in our society and to create positive relationships with the children. Assemblies have British Values and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural links. Classes have class ambassadors who support and encourage other children to make the right choices.

Actions Taken: Review the changes we have made to the Rethink room slips to strengthen our restorative practice, develop the role of the pastoral team to ensure that strong relationships with children help to reinforce positive behaviour choices through the use of a range of SEMH interventions.

Individual Liberty 

Within school, everyone is actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment.  The school provides pupils with opportunities to learn about what makes a good choice. Pupils are encouraged to express their views and teaching and learning incorporates their preferences and interests. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for children to make choices safely, though provision of a safe environment and empowering education. The Learning Code encourages children to care about their learning, to aspire to do well, to be responsible for the learning and the choices they make and they know and understand that they have to put effort into learning.  Children are taught to express their opinions as part of our topic question approach and class debates so that they understand that all opinions matter but may differ from their own. We have strong behaviour systems in place that encourage children to make the right choice, to reflect on their choice and to think about the impact of their choices on others.

Actions Taken: The ‘Children’s Rights and Responsibilities act’ are going to be a feature of assemblies so that children understand what they have a right to and what their responsibilities are.

Mutual Respect

At Gildersome Primary School, values of respect and tolerance permeate all areas of school life.  This engenders a climate within which pupils feel safe and secure and facilitates the fulfilment of potential.  All staff demonstrate respect to everyone with whom they come into contact. We welcome a range of visitors into our school and children are taught to be polite and well mannered to everyone they meet. All stakeholders consistently model and promote the behaviours and attitudes that are the foundation of positive relationships. The strong school ethos encourages everyone to consider and support each other and to celebrate the worth and individuality of every member of the school community.

Actions Taken: The school continue to maintain good relationships in the community – visits to provide entertainment at the residential home, contributing to village events such as the Christmas Lights switch-on and the Scarecrow Festival. Children take part in the Remembrance Service at the cenotaph, WW2 art displays, stone art for remembrance,  and contribute towards a community display to celebrate and commemorate those that have been involved in wars. We make regular visits to St Peter's Church and the ministry regularly here to take Christian-themed assemblies. Children are taught to respect their local environment and the people that live within it. We have had school themed weeks such as 'One Nation' week and 'Diversity' week were we focus on differences and similarities. Assemblies focus on social, moral, spiritual and cultural events, and figureheads throughout the year.

Next Steps: To look for other ways of positively engaging within community projects. Embed other religious celebrations and festivals into the curriculum other than through assemblies

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

The school’s curriculum aims to develop understanding of the world.  The RE and PSHE schemes of work provide opportunities for pupils to develop tolerance of and empathy towards those from different faiths, beliefs and cultures. Each week, an assembly is based around “World Events and Celebrations” in which we seek to develop tolerance and understanding of people’s beliefs and faiths whilst reinforcing British values. The school has a link with the University of Leeds and this has resulted in some positive relationships with University Students from other countries who have shared their expertise about an aspect of their culture.  We have a yearly RE exhibition presented by students of RE from many parts of the world who come and share religious stories in the form of a role play. The school has a strong link with St Peter's church - the school attends performs at all religious occasions and supports the Funzi and Bodo charity event annually through performances and donations.

Next Steps: To encourage members of different faiths and religions to visit school. Develop school visits to a wider number of places of worship and ensure that the visits have a range of educational purposes and are mapped across the school year. Widening the range of books on offer in the library to include more cultural stories. 

British Tradition and Heritage

We celebrate the role of Britain both historically and in the present. We want pupils to have knowledge of and be proud of their British heritage and the cultural and historical traditions that we are renowned for the world over.

Actions taken: Celebrating royal events, Remembrance Day (annual cenotaph visits), festivals such as Harvest, Christmas, Easter (alongside those from other cultures such as Eid, Diwali and Chinese New Year, for example) and patron saint days . The children visit places of cultural significance such as Skipton Castle, Jorvik, York Museum (Romans), Danelaw (Viking village), Leeds Museum (Egyptians), Yorkshire Sculpture Park, regional theatres. (Actual places depend on the year's curriculum). We have had a recent Cultural Drumming experience for Year 5s that was set up by the Lord Mayor of Leeds who also came to see the performance and talk to the children. We take part in the St George's Day celebrations, we celebrated Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee, commemorated her death (children signed a remembrance book) and celebrated the crowning of King Charles III. We celebrate major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics.

Next Steps: To continue to add new experiences to support children’s understanding of British Tradition and Heritage. To develop the list of 'Activities to do before leaving Gildersome Primary school' to ensure that our children access a range of experiences to enhance their cultural capital as part of our broad and balanced curriculum.

British values in early years

For more information on how we teach British Values in Early Years, please click here.

British Values Planning

Each year group has aspects of British Values embedded into their planning. These can be viewed below: