British Values Policy 

Introduction

At Co-op Academy Woodslee, we actively promote British Values as defined under the Ofsted guidance, through our school vision, ethos, agreed rules, curriculum and teaching:

‘ensure that they and the school promote tolerance of and respect for people of all faiths (or those of no faith), cultures and lifestyles; and support and help, through their words, actions and influence within the school and more widely in the community, to prepare children and young people positively for life in modern Britain.’

At Co-op Academy Woodslee, we value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all our pupils and families and undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. Such experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom, teach tolerance and respect for the differences but also the similarities in our local and national community and the wider world. Through the National Curriculum and our curriculum offer, we plan and deliver lessons, learning, trips and experiences which make strong, explicit links to the British Empire. We actively challenge children, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.

The government defines these values as:

• Democracy

• Rule of law

• Individual liberty

• Mutual respect

• Tolerance of those of different faiths

Promoting British Values

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 have been reiterated by the Prime Minister this year.

At Co-op Academy Woodslee, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy: Democracy is richly embedded within the school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our Pupil Parliament, pupil questionnaires, and feedback to the Senior Team. Our school Behaviour policy involves rewards and sanctions; this is shared through all aspects of school life and also shared with parents, carers and children from Foundation Stage to Year 6.

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 collective worship time. 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. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service are a regular part of our calendar events and help reinforce this message.

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 all pupils to make choices safely, through provision of a safe environment and an empowering approach through the education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Pupils are given the freedom to make a wide range of choices from attending extra-curricular clubs to supporting fundraising events.

Mutual Respect: As a school which holds values at the core of its ethos, our school Values and Behaviour policies have evolved around Core Values such as ‘Respect’, and pupils have been part of discussions and collective worship related to what this means and how it is shown. Through our PSHE work and school values, we learn about a new ‘Value’ every month. It is shared with home through newsletters and website information. Adults throughout the school model, demonstrate and promote respect for others as do older children who have suitable, age related, tasks and responsibilities and this is reiterated through our classroom and learning rules, as well as our behaviour. Staff follow a Code of Conduct to reinforce this.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs: At Co-op Academy Woodslee, we are a culturally rich and diverse school where children have unique opportunities to learn from each other by sharing and celebrating their different faiths and cultures. Collective worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed up and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school.

To promote these values:

• We have an elected Pupil Parliament where pupil’s voices are heard.

• Our collective worship calendar actively promotes these values through the use of SMSC and RE objectives. We have visiting faith leaders who conduct regular assemblies and we also attend local churches for services at Harvest and Christmas. We also use the local places of worship for visits to enhance the curriculum.

• We celebrate and support many local, national and international initiatives to promote the values of tolerance, empathy and challenge stereotypes.

British Values Policy

• 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. Visits from authorities such as the Police, Fire Service, etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message. In the broad and balanced curriculum that we deliver there is opportunity to discuss these.

• Pupils are actively encouraged and supported to make informed choices, to know and exercise their rights and personal freedom, but safely for example through our e-safety policy.

• Our positive behaviour policy encourages tolerance and mutual respect.

• As a whole school, we have celebrated and marked special local and national occasions such as the Olympics, St. George’s Day, and commemoration of the First World War,

• We take part in a whole school Remembrance service each year. Please refer to the power point on our website to develop further knowledge of how we deliver and promote British values in our Foundation Stage and across the whole school.

British Values in action

EYFS

Child A was building in the outdoor construction area.  Other children wanted to join in, Child A explained what needed to be done and they worked together taking turns, sharing, collaborating and making decisions together.

There were not enough bubbles for every child to have one each.  The children had to use negotiating skills: setting rules for how long we can each have a turn for before we have to let somebody else have a turn. Negotiating who will pass the bubble tubes on and who to.  The children ensured it was fair and the plan was stuck to.

The children all use restorative justice and work together to make situations right again.  As part of PSED the children are all aware of the choices that we choose to make and that these can have consequences.  Children work to take steps to resolve conflicts with other children and find a compromise.  They work to be able to solve problems and negotiate without aggression.  

In EYFS we help the children to develop a positive sense of themselves. The children complete activities such as paint mixing, races and collecting their own resources to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and increase their confidence in their own abilities.

The children enjoy sharing their favourite books, toys and ideas. By doing this we are giving children the time and space to explore the language of feelings and responsibility; reflect on their differences and understand that we are all free to have different opinions.

Through PSED we discuss similarities and differences within our class, including exploring similarities and differences between themselves and others; among families, faiths, communities, cultures and traditions; and sharing and discussing practices, celebrations and experiences.  An example of this is when we discussed the different foods that we eat in our homes and talked about how these are different.

During Chinese New Year the children wrote their names in Chinese writing and tried to use chop sticks.  We discussed what type of utensils we all use at home, who uses chop sticks and who doesn’t.

Year 1

Children listened to speeches and voted for pupil parliament positions at the start of the year. They then choose to stand for school council positions which again was decided by a class vote. Children discussed democracy and understood how a democratic voting system works.

Co-op values of equity and equality are taught and followed.

All children understand that their voice is important and valued. They completed surveys so that the  play time equipment and clubs that they wanted could be organised indicating preferences and individual choices.

Children completed a library survey so their library was designed by them and filled with books of their choice.

Children understand and follow restorative justice.  Any harm done is put right and there may be natural and logical consequences as outlined in the behaviour policy.

Do-jos are awarded for following the Woodslee Way and prizes are awarded weekly with a dojo prize winner.

Children are given choices and can choose their own lunch from the electronic menu. Children also have a homework menu which gives children the choice of activities to complete for homework.

As a class we celebrated Chinese New Year and Eid. We tasted Chinese food, made dragons for our dragon dance and tried writing our names in mandarin.

During our RE lessons where we were learning about Islam Mr.Ahmed (student teacher) was able to bring in and tell us all about his prayer mats and discuss his beliefs. Over a number of RE lessons children wrote questions for Mr.Ahmed who answered them at the end of the topic.

Year 2

• Democracy.

Voting for school parliament

Co-op values of equity and equality are taught and followed.

An inclusive curriculum is taught with adjustments made or support given to those that need it (e.g. sensory box for a mainstream child with ASC).

All children completed surveys so that the  play time equipment and clubs that they wanted could be organised.

Children completed a library survey so their library was designed by them and filled with books of their choice.

• the rule of law

Restorative Practice is followed. Any harm done is put right and there may be natural and logical consequences. As outlined in the behaviour policy.

Do-jos are awarded for following the Woodslee Way and prizes are awarded

Meeting the reading expectations  are rewarded with certificates and wrist bands

• individual liberty

Children choose their own lunch from the electronic menu

Homework menu gives children the choice of activities to complete for homework

Library books to read for pleasure are chosen by the child

Pyjamarama Day- children read their favorite book and share it with their friends

Children entered a competition to design their own garden.

• mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and for those without faith.

We learn about all world religions

All children visit the local church

The RE syllabus teaches all world religions- respect for all religions is taught and expected

Faith Days are observed and celebrated (e.g. Eid was celebrated with a special menu in the Rainbow Restaurant and an assembly. Those that wished to, came to school in their traditional clothes).

Birch

Rule of Law:

We follow school rules and we have a set of classroom rules to help us make good choices:

Restorative Justice is followed and if we break something then we fix it!  This applies to school property but also to friendships.

We have looked at similarities and differences in PSHE and celebrated other cultures through RE:

Year 3

Year 3 learnt about important people in history who had shaped the world and made changes to the way that people were treated and respected. We talked about our own strengths and the things that we were good at that make us unique and how we can use these strengths to help ourselves when we are feeling low. We also shared our family traditions and looked at traditions from other cultures and religions.

Here is a small snippet from some of our PSHE lessons this year, we have looked at topics such as respect, differences, kindness, cultures, E + R = O, resilience, tolerance and diversity.

Year 4

Democracy

Rule of law

Individual liberty

Year 5

Rule of law.

We follow our school behaviour policy - restorative justice. Any harm done is corrected and there may be natural and logical consequences.  

Do-jos are awarded for following the Woodslee Way and we receive prizes for children collecting the most dojo points in a week.

The values of laws are reinforced in different ways throughout school:

• Visits from authorities such as the police.
• Cycling Proficiency lessons enable children to understand the rules of the road and the potential dangers encountered should they break those rules.
• During Religious Education, when rules for particular faiths are thought about
• During other school subjects, where there is respect and appreciation for different rules.

Tolerance for those with different faiths/beliefs

In year 5, there are many ways which we have enhanced children’s understanding and respect for different faiths and beliefs. We celebrate cultural differences through assemblies, themed weeks, visitors and classroom displays.

In RE we have studied Islam, Christianity, Buddhsim and Judaism. We had a visit from a Muslim lady named Sheema, who taught us all about why Islam is important to her. We also celebrated the festival of Eid, enjoying a quiz and making henna cards and lanterns for our classmate Amna, who is a Muslim and follows Islam.

Here is our work on the five pillars of Islam and our Eid quiz:

Individual liberty

Alongside rules and laws, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment, we provide boundaries so we can make our own safe choices.

In Year 5, children have been given key roles of Play Leaders. We ensure that our break and lunch times are safe and enjoyable and we have many sports and games to choose to take part in.

We choose our own books to read during our daily ‘Reading for Pleasure’ time.

Here we are enjoying reading our own books outside!

Through opportunities such as our extra-curricular ‘Acorn time’ and Lunch Time clubs, we are given the freedom to make our own choices.

Year 5 sewing club every Friday Lunchtime. We have made our own bookmarks and are going to be making our stuffed animals soon. 

Year 6

Rule of Law -

Year 6 have enjoyed a visit from the police this half term where we were able to discuss how to stay safe and follow the law effectively. We discussed what constitutes a criminal offence and everything we can do to ensure that we don’t break the law. We also discussed ways to keep our community safe and who is out there to support us if needed.

Year 6 follows our Coop Values and ‘Our Class Rules’ to ensure that everyone around us is safe. The children created the class rules themselves and also came up with their own ways to show the Coop Values. This is something that we have worked hard on this year to ensure everyone feels they are shown respect and are cared for by one another. We also discuss E + R = O regularly throughout the year to ensure that children know that their response to an event can change the outcome for the better.

Democracy-

Year 6 are active members of the pupil parliament where they enjoy making decisions about different aspects of school life. They do this by creating posters/leaflets to help give members of the community an idea of how our Academy operates and asking different classes questions about what they enjoy about school as well as what could be improved.

Individual Liberty -

In year 6, we have many opportunities where children display individuality. They are continuously making their own choices both for rewards for positive behaviour such as trips to the park and consequences for not following the rules they have created. We have regular restorative justice conversations, reminding children of the choices they should make. Children are always able to restore justice if needed.

We have play leaders in year 6 who help clear away the equipment from break and lunch times. These children are given the responsibility to ensure that all equipment is put away safely and make sure that nothing is lost or broken. We have found that this responsibility has given children a sense of pride as they look after the equipment they enjoy using.

We choose our own reading for pleasure books each week to ensure that everyone has a book they enjoy reading.

Each week, the children enjoy ‘Acorn Time’ where they are able to choose the activities that they can join in with, including: nail art, multi-sports, art and mindfulness. The children have loved choosing their own activity and have been able to learn skills they didn’t previously have.

We are currently taking part in an ‘Aspirations week’ where children are thinking about their own futures and where they want to be as they grow up. We are hoping that with career fair and aspirational activities during PSHE, that they will take control of their own education and know what heights they need to reach in order to reach their full potential.

Mutual Respect -

In year 6, we pride ourselves on showing mutual respect to everyone around us, no matter their background or culture. We have recently enjoyed learning about Eid, discussing Ramadan and how fasting can impact your life as well as why muslims may choose to do so as they reach a certain age. We have learnt about a range of religions this year such as: Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. The children are keen to engage themselves in discussions and put themselves in the shoes of someone in these religions and think about how their lives differ or are similar to those in different religions and to themselves.

We always seek to understand each other’s feelings, making sure we show respect for one another and show we care. We work together in large groups and in smaller group settings, ensuring that nobody is left out and every single person, including those who are not in our class, feel comfortable and respected.