At Spire Junior School, our children are taught about the British Values and how to uphold them.

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.” The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values are reinforced regularly.

 

Democracy.  

Each year the children decide upon their School Council - whom have been voted for by each class. The School Council meet with Senior Leaders in the school to discuss school improvement and issues that have been raised. They play an active role in understanding the children’s views and put these across to Senior Leaders on certain topics, along with their own suggestions on how to improve or change.  

All the children have termly meetings with subject leaders to share their thoughts and suggestions on what could make the subjects even better. The children also have the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament to understand more about how the country is run and the role of MPs, attending the Remembrance Parade at Chesterfield Town Hall and talking to veterans after. We have taken part in UK Parliament Week, where our local MP came to talk about his job and answered questions from the children. 

 

The Rule of Law. 

The importance of laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced at Spire. 

Pupils are taught from starting our school rules of Ready, Respectful, Safe. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message. Our Year 5 pupils benefit from the excellent Mini Police programme to support their undertanding of the Rule of Law.

Individual Liberty. 

Our 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 young pupils to make informed choices, through a safe environment and an empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our eSafety and PSHE lessons. The School Council took part in an online survey for Anti-Bullying Week, and children completed a range of activities to further their understanding in this area.  

Mutual Respect.  

Mutual respect is at the heart of our values. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect. Our School is an Attachment Relational Aware School, and a When The Adults Change Partner School (Please see out behaviour policy for further details). 

 

                             

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs.  

Spire Junior actively promotes diversity through our celebrations of different faiths and cultures. Religious Education lessons and PSHE lessons reinforce messages of tolerance and respect for others. Members of different faiths and religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school. The children visit places of worship that are important to different faiths, such as the local St Augustine’s church and a nearby synagogue as well as visiting the Crooked Spire to see the Christmas Tree festival, with the children designing ‘baubles’ for our own tree. Children have also taken part in online meetings with an Imam to understand more about the Muslim faith.

Assemblies 

Every week, the children have a British Values assembly. This uses the Picture News PowerPoint (Teaching Resources for Assemblies | Picture News)  which “allows for children to learn about our world, protected characteristics, develop independence, resilience, respect and unlock their own drive and passion for learning.” The children realise that these issues are something which they can impact, and so their voice is given meaning and purpose.