Promoting British Values

At St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary Academy, we want to ensure children become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and tolerance, regardless of background. We want to promote the basic British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs which will help prepare them for life in modern Britain. Our Jesuit values and British values are interwoven into the daily life of St. Patrick’s to reflect the Spiritual, Moral, Social, Vocational and Cultural ethos and children are given frequent opportunities to enable them to apply these values and practise key learning behaviours that support them. The policy has been drawn up to fully integrate British Values into the school curriculum in line with the aims highlighted in Government’s PREVENT strategy.

At St. Patrick’s, we establish these links with a cross curricular approach establishing a strong link to the PSHE and citizenship aspect of the curriculum. We aim to provide an opportunity to develop interests and overcome barriers through our ‘Curriculum Drivers’. These drivers are used to underpin the direction and development of our curriculum and to ensure that British Values are enriched and personalised in order to meet the needs, interests and ambitions of our children and families.

British Values: What are they?

At St. Patrick’s, we actively promote British Values in the following ways:

Democracy

Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council and Pupil questionnaires. Members of each class have the chance to elect a representative that they feel will represent their classes views. School council and House Captain candidates are required to prepare campaign speeches outlining their suitability for the role and their vision for the school. The school council is actively involved in the life of the school and in decision making processes, these views are taken into account when decisions by leaders rare made. Members of the school council are an integral part of the interview process for all teaching and leadership posts.

This demonstrates how the values of democracy and individual liberty can teach the children about communication, their community whilst also reflecting a knowledge of the world that we live in by mirroring the normal procedures of elections.

Pupil and Parent questionnaires are completed on a regular basis to gather the views of all members of the school community and these responses inform on-going work in school.

The Rule of Law

The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Rewards and Sanctions for following the rules or choosing not to follow the rules are embedded in our behaviour policy and are consistently used by all. 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.

Pupils are given opportunities to work with Local Community Police Officers and meet with members of the wider community so they can gain a greater understanding of respect for rules and how they impact on our community.

Individual Liberty

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 young pupils to make choices safely, through our provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advise how to exercise these choices wisely. In lessons, learning tasks are challenging and require cooperation, hard work and perseverance. They understand they may have to take appropriate risk and may have to congratulate and be proud of a more successful peer on some occasions.

At St. Patrick’s, we educate the whole child and this means preparing pupils for later life. By helping children to develop strategies to benefit their mental health and giving them the self-esteem they need to achieve their goals, develop healthy lifestyle skills and have an understanding that anything is possible.

Mutual Respect

Our pupils learn together with respect for each other. We value and celebrate our peers, as evidenced in our weekly praise assemblies. Every pupil knows that we respect and appreciate each other no matter what differences may exist. Pupils have regular discussions on what respect means and how it is shown to others.

At St. Patrick’s, our faith calls us to love God and to love our neighbours, especially those who are suffering. Every year the staff and pupils work hard to support various charities, raising large amounts of money through different fundraising events. We support charities in our community, such as Father Hudson’s and The Well to nationwide charities such as BBC Children in Need, CAFOD, Women’s Aid and The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, to name but a few.

In addition to this, we also support charities linked to the needs of children in our school.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

This is achieved through enhancing pupils understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. Within our school, many pupils and their families come from different countries with many languages and dialects being spoken as a first language. We therefore live, speak and breathe tolerance for others.

We offer a culturally rich and diverse curriculum in which many religions are studied and respected. We believe that tolerance is gained through knowledge and understanding. Through our curriculum and the routines of our daily school life, we strive to become knowledgeable, understanding and successful citizens who can build a better local area and Britain for the future.

We promote all British Values through the Jesuit Pupil Profile. Each half term, the children develop their understanding of two new virtues and strive to apply these to their everyday lives. The children have the opportunity to share how they have applied these virtues and these are displayed in school.

Children at St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary Academy are growing to be:

Grateful for their own gifts, for the gift of other people, and for the blessings of each day; and generous with their gifts, becoming men and women for others.

Attentive to their experience and to their vocation; and discerning about the choices they make and the effects of those choices.

Compassionate towards others, near and far, especially the less fortunate; and loving by their just actions and forgiving words.

Faith-filled in their beliefs and hopeful for the future.

Eloquent and truthful in what they say of themselves, the relations between people, and the world.

Learned, finding God in all things; and wise in the ways they use their learning for the common good.

Curious about everything; and active in their engagement with the world, changing what they can for the better.

Intentional in the way they live and use the resources of the earth, guided by conscience; and prophetic in the example they set to others.

Radicalisation and Extremism

All staff know that they must be aware of any signs of radical or extremist views, as outlined in the ‘Prevent’ agenda. All adults, including Governors, are vigilant and know to report any concerns about views/behaviours expressed by a child or anyone connected to a child to the Designated Leaders for Safeguarding.

Our school reflects British Values in all that we do. We aim to nurture our children on their journey through life so they can grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant citizens who make a positive difference to British society and to the world. We encourage our children to be creative, unique, open-minded and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and of others in our school, our local community and the wider world.

The impact our curriculum has on our children:

Fundamental British Values are evident in all areas of the school curriculum and will be encountered and accessed as part of daily classroom routines. The ultimate aim for British Values is that children will be using and applying them without even realising this as these values will become part of their day to day life.
Children of all abilities and backgrounds are included and engaged in British Values in order for them to have a better understanding of the world we live in and the skills they will need in later life.
Children will leave St. Patrick’s with an open-minded approach and attitude to the outside world. The values they have learnt will prove instrumental in their personal and professional development.
Children will be accepting of all people and promote the inclusive attitudes that are embedded into the School’s ethos.
Children will be able to articulate what each British Value means and what it looks like.
Children will have the freedom to express and share what they are curious about whilst knowing they are in a safe environment.
Children will have a clear progression and transference of life skills.

Children will gain leadership qualities and a positive mental attitude from being able to express themselves and being accepted for this.