British Values

The DfE have recently 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, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”

At Brownsover Community School, our school values: Respect, Independence, Politeness, Kindness, Honesty and Perseverance, are at the heart of all that we do and are all linked to the fundamental British values listed above. We value the backgrounds and diversity of all our pupils and families and we undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. Underpinning all of this, are a range of curriculum topics which further support and embed British Values.

Democracy

Each year the children vote for their class representatives for school council. The roles and responsibilities are shared with all children, and from this two school council members are elected from each class. The school council meets regularly to discuss issues raised by pupils, and together they plan ideas and actions to address these. Most recently, the school council members have agreed fundraising events to support our charity nominations for this year.

During circle time, all children are given opportunities to speak in an informal and secure setting, sharing their ideas and thoughts. All children also have the opportunity to share their views regarding their learning environment, teaching and learning at school and our behaviour and reward systems during learning walks, which are included in our on-going evaluations of school development.

Last year, a group of year 2 pupils were able to visit The Houses of Parliament in London, where they had the chance to explore and re-enact various ministerial roles and the responsibilities they bring.

The Rule of Law

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

Pupils are taught from an early age the rules of the school, through our ‘Good to be Green system’. This forms the basis of our class expectations, Playground Rules and Safety Rules. 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.

Mutual Respect &

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

Much of our school ethos and behaviour policy revolves around our core values, ‘Respect’ being one of these. Through discussions and assemblies we explore what this means and how it can be shown to others. Respect is promoted around the school and is reiterated through our classroom and learning rule; our daily conversations and expectations as well as through our behaviour policy.  

“Pupils are exceptionally well behaved. Their behaviour reflects their in-depth understanding of the school's values.” Ofsted Jan 2019

At Brownsover we value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all of our pupils and families. We undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these, especially as part of our RE curriculum and class continent studies. These enable us to actively promote diversity through our celebrations of different faiths and cultures. Religious Education lessons, Assemblies 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 and denominations.

Individual Liberty

Within our school, pupils understand that they should feel proud of all the communities to which they belong. We teach the children that we are citizens of the school and wider community and as such they 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.

Children are able to make choices freely throughout the day which actively impacts upon how investigations and ideas are carried out. They also play a key role in curriculum planning sharing what they already know as part of a knowledge harvest, and identifying what they would like to learn about next.