Promoting Fundamental British Values at Crest Infant School & Nursery

At Crest Infant School, Nursery & Children’s Centre we promote ‘British Values’ through development of children’s character and within Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural education. This permeates the curriculum and supports the development of the whole child.

The Department of Education 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.”

At Crest Infant and Nursery School these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy

At Crest Infant School & Nursery at the beginning of each new academic year, the children decide upon their class rules and the rights associated with these. All the children contribute to the drawing up of these rules.

We have a School Council which meets regularly to discuss issues raised in class circle times and any other issues that may arise. Every child on the school council is voted in by their class. Children are able to put forward their views about the school.

As a school which has character education at the heart of it’s work, we encourage the children to make their own decisions, which may not always be the same as their friends.

The Rule of Law

The importance of rules and/or laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced regularly in one form or another in school on a daily basis and further reinforced through dealing with specific examples of poor behaviour, school assemblies and interactions with parents.

Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind rules/laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when rules/laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message.

In our school we try to live this through our ‘Golden Rules’ and our behaviour for learning policy. We all try to be ‘star learners’ in line with our school motto “Reaching for the stars hand in hand”.

Individual Liberty

Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through PSHE lessons and sessions on E-Safety. Whether it is through choice of learning challenge or success criteria, of how they record, of participation in the opportunities provided, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.

We believe that creating a caring and helpful environment can develop positive self-esteem. We are keen to support charities; whether local, national or global; we hold a non-uniform day for Children in Need and collect food to be given to needy families during our Harvest festival.

Children learn about times in the past when civil liberty has been compromised or challenged e.g. the Second World War and we annually support the Poppy Appeal.

Mutual Respect

Mutual respect is given high priority in school and promoted through a range of class based and whole school means. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. This is supported by our very clear behaviour policy. All members of the school community are expected to treat each other with respect and be polite as agreed in our ‘Star principles’ which provide the context for all groups to work together.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

At Crest Infant School and Nursery we actively promote 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 and the children learn about and where possible visit, places of worship that are important to different faiths.

In our school we will actively challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views. We will also challenge racism and expect everyone within our community to respect British laws whilst supporting their own culture.