How we promote British Values at Dover Park Primary School
The DFE has recently reinforced the need ‘to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation for 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.’
At Dover Park Primary School we are dedicated to promoting values which ensure our pupils develop a strong sense of social and moral responsibility which will prepare them for life in modern Britain. We would like to share with our parents how we promote these values.
Democracy
The school values pupil voice and we ask the pupils about their learning, their concerns and for their ideas about how we can make things better for them. We do this by using pupil questionnaires and through our pupil leader teams. At the start of each year children vote for their class school council representatives through an election process. Through their class representatives children have the opportunity to have their voices heard in front of the School Council. They also has a budget which they choose how to spend.
The Rule of Law
The children understand the school rules and what happens if these rules are broken. At the start of each year classes discuss class rules and agree a charter to abide by. During PSHE lessons and assemblies children learn about the importance of having rules and how these relate to laws. We use a range of PSHE resources to promote moral, spiritual, social and cultural awareness among our pupils. Our children have a well-developed sense of justice. They understand and are able to discuss why there needs to be consequences for those who break the rules or laws. By being immersed in the ethos of the school, our children learn about their responsibility to be law abiding citizens.
Individual Liberty
Alongside rules and laws, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment and empowering education, we provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely; for example:
Choices about what learning challenge or activity to do.
Choices around the participation in extra-curricular activities.
Choices about lunchtime options, and so on
Our behaviour policy is built on the principle that children are responsible for their own actions and choices and that these have consequences. The school sanctions system provides reflection time where pupils are able to think about the impact of their choices. The Pastoral Care team also run ‘Chill and Chat’ drop-in surgeries for children to freely come in from break to discuss anything which may be concerning them. During PSHE, e-Safety lessons and Assemblies pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe whilst they exercise their rights and personal freedoms. Safeguarding is embedded in every aspect of life at the school.
Mutual Respect and Tolerance
Our ethos at Dover Park is based on mutual respect and good manners. Adults actively model respect with one another, and with the children, in how we speak and treat one another. Our school is a diverse community and, through our creative curriculum, we promote an awareness of different faiths and we encourage our pupils to recognise and understand these faiths. Our pupils naturally show tolerance for others and have a curiosity to find out and understand cultures and faiths that are different from their own. Our children visit all the main places of worship on the Isle of Wight. All staff model a tolerant and accepting attitude. We use assemblies to raise and discuss issues of bullying and prejudice and reinforce learning during curriculum time.
At Dover Park School, we will actively challenge pupils, parents or staff who express opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including extremist views.
British Values through the Curriculum
Interwoven within the curriculum in a range of curriculum areas are planned opportunities to teach the values of our society. Some examples are:
PSHE: How we influence democracy is explored though PSHE and assemblies. This includes looking at historical figures such as Nelson Mandela and Gandhi and exploring the effectiveness of different approaches. The Rule of Law The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country is consistently reinforced at Dover Park. 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 PSHE lessons.
Religious, Moral & Spiritual Education: Gaining a greater understanding of religious diversity and practices, this covers key religions represented in the UK. Planning for the subject is directed by the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) – Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. All children have the opportunity to visits places of worship that are important to different to faiths. Dover Park Primary School actively promotes diversity through celebrations of different faiths and cultures.
Physical Education: Promotion of the concept of “fair play”, following and developing rules, inclusion, celebrating and rewarding success, being magnanimous in defeat and participation in activities that promote kinship and affiliation with others.
Pupil Leadership: Promotion of democratic processes, fostering the concept and application of freedom of speech and group action to address needs and concerns. Key to this is the concept of holding others to account, including those in positions of influence and authority.
Educational visits: Our broad range of educational visits and experiences outside of the classroom equip our children with the skills to make a positive contribution to their community as equal citizens, as well as being able to look at British heritage in more depth. Recent visits have included a visit to London, Winchester and Portsmouth, exploring British landmarks, galleries and attractions.
Community Events: We work closely with charities and organisations such as ‘Save the Children’, Barnardos and NSPCC. We encourage our children to interact with children from other schools, both locally and further afield, though organised activities.
As part of Dover Park Primary School's ongoing safeguarding and child protection duties we are fully behind the government's Prevent Strategy.
From 1 July 2015 all schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as the Prevent Duty for Schools.
At Dover Park, we build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling our pupils to challenge extremist views.
The statutory guidance refers to the importance of Prevent awareness training to equip staff to identify children at risk of being drawn into terrorism and to challenge extremist ideas. The Home Office has developed a core training product for this purpose – Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP). All our staff have received WRAP training on what Prevent is about and how to deal with any issues they may see inside or outside school. Senior Leaders have also completed the the full training on Prevent for Leaders and Managers.