British Values

Promoting British Values at Garfield Primary

The Government emphasises that schools are required to ensure that key ‘British Values’ are taught in all UK schools.  The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy. The five British Values are:

• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

At Garfield we are committed to ensuring that our pupils understand the British Values. We strongly believe that our Garfield Vision and Values complement and also support the British Values .Our Garfield Vision and Values underpins what we stand for and are displayed in each classroom and around the school .Pupils understand what they mean and are rewarded with a particular value postcard which is sent home when they have demonstrated it at school. We make sure our pupils understand and are taught the British Values through a range of ways and this includes through a well thought out annual timetable of assemblies and events and our curriculum map and provision.

Democracy

At Garfield, parts of our curriculum such as History, PHSE and English, teach about the democratic process and pupils have opportunities to apply these skills through activities such as class and group debates.

Children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. We have a school council which meets regularly to discuss issues raised in class council meetings. Garfield School council Reps for each year group are voted in by their class and this happens annually. During assemblies pupils hear about what was discussed and the actions for change. The Headteacher meets regularly with the School Council .They have been able to genuinely effect change within the school. One of our current school development priorities is to develop the outdoor provision and our plans for improvement have been directly influenced by the ideas put forward by our pupils.

We also have TalkTime@Garfield where pupils can discuss their worries or problems.

We have Peer Mediators who are selected through a democratic process. Peer Mediators support pupils at lunchtime and also provide another way of pupils having a voice.

Children have an annual questionnaire with which they are able to put forward their views about the school. This is then analysed with recommendations to act on the views given.

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 Garfield.  We have a very clear and consistent behaviour policy which our pupils understand. Our pupils are very clear that certain behaviours such as bullying and racism are not acceptable either at Garfield or in society and that they will be expected to take responsibility for their actions and expect consequences for their behaviour. (This is very clear in our Garfield Vision and Values.)

At the beginning of each academic year, we also agree on each individual’s class rules and share these in an assembly. Pupils are taught the rules and expectations of the school and our Home- School Agreement gives clear expectations for our school staff, our pupils and our parents.

Our pupils are taught the value and the reasons behind laws that govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. We ensure there are opportunities for visitors or trips to reinforce this message and these have included visits from the Police, Fire Service and our local MP. We also have good links with our local Police and CAPE meetings are held regularly at Garfield. 

Individual liberty

At Garfield, pupils are actively encouraged to make independent choices, with the knowledge that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment. This starts when they enter the nursery and reception classes where pupils’ interests are valued and help shape some of the learning opportunities taught .It continues throughout the school where pupils can choose the final Summer term topic and KS2 pupils can choose from a range of subjects in our Garfield College which runs for part of the year on Wednesday afternoons. We also have a wide range of extracurricular activities which pupils can choose and a fair rolling programme system ensures all pupils who want to attend, get the opportunity.

We work hard on developing pupils understanding of safety in a wide variety of ways including our “Keeping Safe Month” in November, regular E- safety lessons, assemblies and PHSCE lessons. We also have links with a range of organisations including Childline and NSPCC.

Our vision and values “Inspire” and “Discovery” particularly link with this British Value.

Mutual Respect

Respect is a strong part of Garfield School and one of the Garfield Values is “Respect”. The ethos of mutual respect is very strong at Garfield and can be seen in the positive and respectful relationships between pupils, staff and pupils and staff and parents. Our school community treat not only each other but the school environment with respect and as a result, our school building and grounds are of a very high quality. Although mutual respect is a strength at Garfield, we are very clear that we will not tolerate disrespectful behaviour and our Behaviour Policy, Code of Conduct and our Visitors Policy reinforce our stance.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

We are extremely proud that we are a very multicultural and multi faith school community and see this is as a real strength and an enriching experience for all. We have a high quality RE curriculum which includes visits to different religious places of worship and guest speakers. Tolerance and pupils’ genuine interest and respect of different faiths and cultures is very high at Garfield. We also have a very comprehensive and diverse annual calendar for assemblies and concerts. All faiths are celebrated and valued in wonderful whole school assemblies each Friday. We hold an International Evening annually and also a Diversity Month. Our Garfield Values of “Respect” and “Everyone” are clearly linked to this British Value.

At Garfield we are committed to the British Values (and our Garfield Vision and Values) and will challenge any member of the school community who does not support these, including those with “extremist” views.