British Values / SMSC

The Department for Education (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 and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”

 

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy. At Fair Oak Infant School, these values are embedded within our School Values of Caring, Respect, Collaboration, Reflection, Creativity and Perseverance.

 

Democracy

All children have the chance to make decisions, for example, at the start of the year they contribute to creating class charters. Our pupils have opportunities to have their voices heard through our Pupil Council, with members from Year One and Two. Elections for these places take part in class and are voted for in a secret ballot. The council members attend meetings, collect class views, feedback to their classes and are involved in whole school fund raising.

 

The Rule of Law

We have whole school Golden Rules which are displayed prominently in all classrooms and the hall with Golden Time earned daily by every child. Behaviour is rewarded and sanctioned through this system which operates alongside our School Values, which children are taught from the first weeks of Year R. Children collect stickers to complete a Values Passport and achievements are praised weekly in our whole school Celebration Assembly. The understanding and importance of rules is reinforced through assemblies and our curriculum.

 

Individual Liberty

We encourage children to take responsibility for themselves within a safe and supportive environment where children are encouraged to make the good choices wherever they are. Our children learn through assemblies and our PSHE curriculum and our encouraged to form and express their own opinions. We teach the children how to make safe choices, for example, online with fireworks, road safety, fire safety. We teach anti-bulling messages and encourage children to treat others with respect.

 

Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

Our children are taught to put our School Values into action. They are expected to behave positively towards each other and are praised for this during school day, including play and lunch times, through our reward systems. We explore and celebrate different faiths, beliefs and customs through RE, PSHE and Collective Worship. As a school with the British Council's International School Award, we promote global awareness through learning about the traditions of our class countries and share this with parents and carers through our class assemblies. We welcome visitors to share the practices and special celebrations of different religions and receive the local Vicar regularly to talk to an individual year group or take assemblies. Through stories we discuss the effect of intolerance on others and reflect on the anti-bullying message.

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) Learning at Fair Oak Infant School 

 

The latest advice from the Department for Education is that British Values should be promoted through Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC). 

 

Our PSHE curriculum, which includes citizenship education, underpins SMSC. Through this, our children learn, for example, the difference between right and wrong, develop their self-esteem, self-knowledge and self-confidence, take responsibility for their behaviour and learn to respect the differing opinions and traditions of others. We want our children to grow up making a positive contribution to society and prepared for life in modern Britain.