British Values at Westover Green

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The Department for Education states that there is a need for schools to promote fundamental British values. These are:

• Democracy

  Democracy is an integral part of our school ethos. We have many pupil groups including a school council pupil group who support with many important decisions within school including recruitment and pupil librarians who run our school library.

• 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 lessons, as well as when discussing behaviour and through whole school assemblies. We have our ‘Westover Way’ which we follow and display in every room and around the school. Children 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. This is mirrored in our relational approach to behaviour management.

• Individual liberty

  Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. We educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make choices safely. Children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised on how to do this safely; this is supported though jigsaw, our PSHE curriculum. Whether it be through choice of challenge, of how they record, of participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices and to respect the decisions and choices of others.

• Mutual respect

  As identified as one of our 4 'Westover Way' values, our school ethos is firmly rooted in respectful relationships. We respectfully challenge those, including pupils, parents/carers and members of the wider community, who fail to demonstrate respect. We undertake regular assemblies and discussions relating to what this means and how it is shown. Posters around the school promote respect and positive behaviour for others and this is reiterated through our classroom and values, as well as our behaviour policy. Pupils will challenge each other when not showing respect and encourage each other to be respectful. They will work particularly hard to support new members of the school to understand and follow our expectation. Our focus of children's oracy skills supports pupils on how to challenge viewpoints in a respectful way in order to develop and build on ideas.

• Tolerance of those with 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. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. We work closely with the SARI charity to enhance our delivery of diversity and difference. Through our RE curriculum, which teachers the main faiths and focuses upon learning about religion and learning from religion, we promote tolerance of the beliefs of others.

At Westover Green Community School we promote British Values and prepare children for life in modern Britain. We ensure that the fundamental British Values are introduced, discussed and lived out through the ethos and work of the school.