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British Values

Promoting British Values

Children have a right to be happy, succeed and achieve and be healthy. We have a duty to make this happen. At Emmanuel, we value the importance of teaching SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural development) as part of well balanced curriculum.

Spiritual development is the act of bringing meaning to life.

Moral development is the act of taking action to be a good citizen.

Social development is the act of being able to interact successfully in society.

Cultural development is the act of feeling like you belong in society.

At Emmanuel, we promote spirituality which enables our children to:

  • Explore their values and beliefs
  • Reflect and learn from their thoughts
  • Know what makes them and others happy
  • Grow in a spiritually conducive ethos and climate
  • Ask questions about life
  • Make connections

This means as outstanding spiritual learners they are able to:

  • Respect themselves and others
  • Hold a set of values, beliefs and principles
  • Show empathy towards others
  • Reflect of their lives
  • Be creative thinkers
  • Show resilience, persistence and courage
  • Relish and enjoy challenge
  • Appreciate the mysterious elements in life

At Emmanuel, we promote moral development through:

  • Developing a strong moral code
  • Respecting all cultures
  • Allowing freedom of expression
  • Outstanding staff role models
  • All curriculum areas
  • Rewarding good moral development
  • Having clear and robust policies and procedures

This means as outstanding moral learners our children:

  • Know right from wrong
  • Reflect on consequences
  • Confidently express their views
  • Make rational judgements
  • Respect others
  • Relish the opportunity to explore other cultures
  • Are willing to review and alter their views and opinions

Examples of activities:

Reinforced behaviour policy, promotion of good behaviour through rewards, celebration assembly, being actively involved in decision making eg school council, Emmanuel Express Newspaper ran by pupils, circle of friends, Collective Worship themes linked to morals, class charters, responsibilities within school, listening to children’s ideas eg book sale for Syrian refugees.

At Emmanuel, we promote social development by:

  • Embedding key values and principles
  • Developing a shared sense of community
  • Working as a team and collaborating
  • Actively supporting personal skills and conflict resolution
  • Understanding and engaging in democratic processes
  • Establishing links with the local community

This means as outstanding social learners our children are able to:

  • Present with appropriate behaviour
  • Relate well to others
  • Co-operate and work well as a team
  • Resolve conflicts
  • Make a contribution to society
  • Sensitively challenge opinions of others
  • Exercise their responsibilities

Examples of activities:

Sports teams, choir, band, Emmanuel Express Newspaper, Elections for school council, eco-team, applying for roles within school, Rights Respecting Champions, gardening club, using restorative justice language, reflection sheets after any negative incidents, project work, entering local community competitions eg naming local building, holding hustings and election with local councillor on general election day, voting for school pet, debating as part of the curriculum.

 

At Emmanuel, we promote cultural development by:

  • Exploring a range of cultures and beliefs through authentic experiences
  • Adopting a zero tolerance policy to discrimination
  • Through every day aspects of school life
  • Developing range of community links
  • Providing rich experiences

This means as outstanding cultural learners our children are able to:

  • Understand their own culture and beliefs
  • Respect and appreciate the cultures of others
  • Learn from other cultures
  • Enjoy cultural experiences
  • Open to new ideas and beliefs

Examples of activities:

Range of visits to places of worship or cultural centres, visitors to school, assemblies, learning about the lives of significant people from a range of cultures, learning about traditions in range of cultures, genuine links to other countries eg sponsoring Jewels School in Sierra Leone, staff visiting the school and teaching the children about life there, focus theme weeks, learning and celebrating range of festivals, stories and resources from a range of cultures.

What are British Values?

British Values include:

  • Democracy
  • Rule of law
  • Individual liberty
  • Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith

At Emmanuel we:

  • Enable children to develop their self-knowledge, self esteem and self-confidence
  • Enable children to distinguish between right and wrong and respect the law
  • Encourage children to accept responsibility for their behaviour
  • Teach how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the local community and more widely
  • Promote tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling children to acquire an appreciation and respect of their own and other cultures
  • Encourage respect for other people
  • Encourage respect for democracy and support participation in the democratic process

Examples of how we do this:

  • Explicit lessons on democracy and what it means
  • Visit Houses of Parliament
  • Meet our local MP and ask challenging questions
  • Hold democratic projects eg election day including hustings, real voting system and visit from local counsellor with real life outcome for winning party
  • Pupil voice eg wanting to establish a school newspaper, applications for roles and responsibility, making a film on friendship at Emmanuel, choosing to raise money for Autism charity because of their relationship with pupils within the school
  • Visits to places of worship
  • Inviting speakers to school
  • Lessons learning about other faiths
  • Respecting and promoting Remembrance Day- attending services, assemblies
  • Topic on World War 2 and trips to cement their knowledge and understanding
  • Visits from Governor and family members talking about real-life experiences during the war
  • Curriculum that teachers British History
  • Supporting charities eg Children in Need, The Children’s Society, NSPCC, The Red Cross
  • Celebrating significant British events such as St George’s Day and St Andrew’s Day
  • Celebrating the Royal family and key events such as weddings and births
  • Teaching about key people in our history such as Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale.
  • Learning about Human Rights
  • Exploring stereotypes and impact

The Prevent Duty

The Prevent Strategy is the UK Government’s strategy for stopping individuals from becoming involved in terrorism. From 1st July 2015 frontline workers in the UK have a legal duty to help prevent people being drawn into terrorism. All the examples above demonstrate how we are meeting the prevent duty. In summary we:

  • Strengthen community cohesion
  • React to major world events
  • Enable children to become active citizens
  • Increase the religious knowledge and understanding of staff
  • Educate children about different religions
  • Help children to critically evaluate online material