British Values

Middleton St Mary’s aims are to prepare pupils for their adult life, helping them to grow to become good and respectful citizens as well as to promote and reinforce British values.

British values are interwoven throughout our curriculum and promoted within our school ethos. Whole school and Key Stage Worship assemblies, Religious Education, PSHE and Mindmate sessions are examples of where the British Values are promoted. The values also link in with our school values, which are:

Honesty – Learning – Respect – Faith – Responsibility

As well as actively promoting British values throughout school, we would challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British values, including ‘extremist’ views.

 Middleton St Mary’s recognises and embraces the different cultures, faiths and ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom. It is our role to ensure that groups or individuals within the school are not subjected to intimidation or radicalisation by those wishing to unduly, or illegally, influence them.

 We follow the equal opportunities guidance which guarantees that there will be no discrimination against any individual or group, regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, political or financial status, or similar.

The government set out its definition of British values in the Prevent Strategy.

The five key British Values are:

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

These are some of the many ways that Middleton St Mary’s promotes British values in school:

Democracy

Democracy is an integral part of what we do here at Middleton St Mary’s. Each school year starts with the election of a School Council. In the council sessions pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through their School Council representatives, pupil questionnaires as well as ongoing informal conversations with school staff during the day. Children are confident when speaking with adults about issues or to share their ideas for school improvement. Children often have other chances to be part of a democracy through voting in classrooms when making class-based decisions such as choosing a story.

The Rule of Law

Starting in Nursery, pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws/rules, they are taught that laws are in place to protect us, they are taught that it is their responsibility to ensure they follow the law/rules and understand that there are consequences when laws/rules are broken. The importance of laws: class rules, school rules and the laws of the country are reinforced throughout the school day through our behaviour policy. Our school rules are covered in three easy to remember rules, these are:

• Be Ready
• Be Respectful
• Be Safe

Individual Liberty

At Middleton St Mary’s we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs.

We do this by ensuring that we provide the children with a supportive and safe environment to express their views and we provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely.

Our RSHE and Mindmate lessons and e-safety ensure that our children know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are taught how to exercise these safely.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

Middleton St Mary’s is a Christian school with children from a range of different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs we are proud to promote and celebrate our differences. Respect is one of our school values and our pupils know and understand that respect is shown to everyone. Our behaviour policy ensures that children learn that their behaviour choices have an effect on their own rights and those of others. Specific examples of how we develop pupils understanding and respect for different faiths and beliefs are through Religious Education, RSHE and other lessons where we develop awareness and appreciation of other cultures – in English through fiction and in Art by considering culture from other parts of the world.