British Values and preventing extremism

Promoting British Values and preventing extremism

As a school, we value and celebrate the diverse heritages of everybody.  Alongside this, we value and celebrate being part of Britain. In general terms, this means that we celebrate traditions and customs in the course of the year; for example, Christmas celebrations.  We also value and celebrate national events, e.g. The Queen’s Jubilee.

We help our children to learn about being part of Britain from different perspectives. They learn where Britain is in relation to the rest of Europe and other countries in the world and about significant events in British history such as ‘The Gunpowder Plot’ and key historical figures.

Promoting British values at Friar’s Grove Primary School:

• democracy
• the rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect
• tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

At Friar’s Grove Primary, pupils will encounter these principles throughout everyday school life.

Democracy

Children have the opportunity for their voice to be heard through our school council which meets regularly to discuss issues raised within the school.  They are elected by their class peers and are involved in making the school a better place to learn. There is an agenda, issues are discussed and minutes taken.  The council is able to genuinely effect change within the school and gives our children a better understanding of democracy, e.g. The children voted on opinions about the school menu, suggested extra resources for playtime activities and are often involved in the interview process for new staff.  

The Rule of Law

We promote the rule of law by:-

Having a clear, consistent behaviour policy which is consistently applied throughout the school.
Providing opportunities for children to reflect on positive and negative behaviour.
Addressing issues of law during lessons and whole-school assemblies as and when appropriate.
Encouraging visits from external agencies to talk to the children in school.
Using our class reward systems to acknowledge good behaviour as well as good academic work.
 

Individual Liberty

Alongside rules and laws, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. 

Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices at our school, knowing that they are within a safe and supportive environment.
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 PHSE lessons.
Children are encouraged to understand responsibility in school in terms of behaviour and attitude to learning.
Home / school agreements for all pupils are in place.
Pupils are taught how to be safe and how to act safely. This is given an additional emphasis during anti-bullying week.
We offer a range of out of hours clubs which pupils have the freedom to choose from, based on their interests and needs.
 

Mutual respect

Mutual respect is at the core of our school life and is one of our school values. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others.  All members of the school community are taught to treat each other with respect.

Our children learn respect through:

The promotion of positive relationships.
The modelling of positive relationships by all adults working in school.
All aspects of the curriculum, in particular the R.E and Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum.
Our use of paired and group work, peer assessment and Kagan principles.
Our Star Learner and Sports assemblies when all pupils show respect for the efforts of others.
Participation in events organised to raise money for various charities.
Learning to live with their peers on educational residential visits.
 

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs including those with no faith

We put a large emphasis on promoting diversity with the children at Friar’s Grove Primary School. 

Tolerance is promoted in our school through:

Our stated curriculum drivers and values.
All adults model tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.
The faiths and beliefs of different members of our school community, both children and adults, are explored and used to gain a greater understanding.
Assemblies which are regularly planned to include stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. E.g. Diwali.  
Our RE, PSHE and MFL curriculum.
Educational visits to places of religious worship. 
The school’s equal opportunities policy.
Using world events as opportunities to positively reinforce life and culture in other countries (football world cup, the Olympics, etc.).
 

We believe that tolerance is gained through knowledge and understanding. Through our curriculum and the routines of our daily school life, we strive to demonstrate tolerance and help children to become knowledgeable and understanding citizens.

Tackling Extremism

Extremism is defined in the 2011 Prevent strategy as vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values. Also included in the definition of extremism are calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.

Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and extremist ideologies associated with terrorist groups.

Friar’s Grove Primary School ensures that it meets its statutory duties with regard to preventing radicalisation. Staff receive regular training on recognising vulnerabilities and radicalisation and they know how to respond to these. Where the school becomes aware of vulnerabilities, these will be supported and diminished through our pastoral care approaches. Where extremism is suspected, this will be referred to the Designated Safeguarding Lead and to Channel.

Our curriculum addresses the issues of radicalisation and the school responds appropriately when there has been an atrocity on the news, ensuring that our children continue to feel safe and understand that violence is never an acceptable way of expressing your views and that extremist views are unacceptable according to our British Values.