The Department for Education stresses the need to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote fundamental British values of:
- Rule of Law
- Individual Liberty
- Mutual Respect
- Tolerance of those different faiths and beliefs
At St Werburgh’s Cof E (VA) Primary School, we actively promote British Values in our teaching and Collective Worship. We also have strong ties with the local community and church; children and their families are invited to participate in services. As a school we also celebrate events of national significance; for example we celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and 90th birthday, the 2016 Olympics and the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2 as well as observing Remembrance Day each year.
St Werburgh’s has a school council which meets fortnightly. One boy and 1 girl are democratically elected by their peers to sit on the council. The school council is led by Mrs Proudler who adheres to democratic processes, reporting its actions to the head teacher. Their main role is to organise charity events and fund raisers such as Comic Relief and to monitor pupils’ views via school council boxes. In addition, they have also organised school lunches for elderly members of the local community. In the last 18 months school council have visited the Houses of Parliament as a guest of our local MP and attended a lecture by the Bishop of Derby on modern day slavery which also gave them the opportunity to take part in a debate on the issue. The council give a mid-year and end of year report to the whole school where they present their activities and impact they have on the lives of others. They also contribute to the newsletter. In this way pupils know they are listened to and help shape the direction of the school.
As well as a school council we also have a sports council and an eco-council which hold democratic elections and meetings in line with the school council. This allows more pupils in our school to engage in the democratic process.
Our Governing Body is comprised of representatives from the staff, parents, local authority, community and church; they meet termly with the Headteacher and there are regular committee meetings. Elections for staff and parents are conducted using a democratic procedure.
Rule of Law
The importance of rules is consistently reinforced throughout school and is exemplified in our Behaviour and Anti-Bullying policies. School rules are reviewed with the children at the start of each academic year and children agree on class rules with their teacher.
Lunch time supervisors also follow the same behaviour system for fair and happy playtimes.
Visits from our Police Community Support Officer reinforce the need for laws and how they protect our community.
We aim to provide a supportive environment within which children and staff can make informed choices and voice their opinions. In our most recent school questionnaire 83% of pupils strongly agreed/agreed that staff listened to what they had to say in lessons. We encourage pupils to share their concerns either through peer mediators, the learning mentor or class teachers and all classes have a Prayer Corner for children to write their prayers and thoughts for others. 90% of pupils in school strongly agree/agree that there is an adult in school that they can talk to if something is worrying them. At playtimes children are free to choose playtime games and activities. We teach children about their personal rights and freedoms and how to be safe through worship, PSHCE and E-Safety sessions. (An E-Safety information evening has also been held for parents). We have links with ChildLine who do workshops with upper juniors on a regular basis. Pupils have key roles and responsibilities in school, such as Year 6 Monitors and Peer Mediators who choose to perform their roles and responsibilities. 87% of pupils strongly agree/agree that school encourages them to be independent and to take on responsibilities.
Respect underpins the expectations of our ‘Good To Be Green’ behaviour system. We encourage links between younger and older children to promote mutual respect between pupils across different Key Stages. In our most recent survey94% of pupils strongly agreed/agreed that staff encourages them to respect people from other backgrounds and to treat everyone equally.
Children learn about specific celebrations events and commemorations through history topics and collective worship. For example in 2014 children commemorated the outbreak of WW1 and found out about local people who lost their lives; Remembrance Day 1 minute silence is observed every year.
Tolerance of those of different Faiths and Beliefs
Our Collective Worship and PSHCE lessons reinforce messages of tolerance and respect for others. Key celebrations in different faiths are learned about for example, Christmas, Diwali and Passover. All children regularly visit St Werburgh’s Church. As part of our RE curriculum children also visit other places of worship for example the Mosque in Derby.
Together with the Derbyshire Diocesan Board of Education the school have formed links with the Cathedral Schools in Kolkata, India. The Headteacher has visited Sutananagar in January 2017. Classrooms have been connected by a joint environmental project. Opportunities for pupils to learn about each other’s ways of life and beliefs have been provided by videos, photographs and mail. This project, still in its infancy, will be developed collaboratively with St Werburghs Church, members of the school community and the Derby Diocesan Board of Education.