Promoting British Values

We aim to ensure that all of our children develop into kind, ambitious members of our school community so that they can grow into democratic, responsible and tolerant adults who make a positive contribution to British Society and to the World. 

One of the ways that we teach British Values is through Picture News Assemblies every week.  Picture News introduces our children to world-wide current affairs in an age-appropriate way.  Here are some examples of how we help our children to develop their knowledge of British Values at Knowle.

Democracy

We aim to develop an understanding of the importance of democracy through:

• Involving children in democratic processes such as the School Parliament.
• Ensuring that children have a voice within school e.g. pupil surveys, taking part in interviewing prospective members of staff, contributing to theme weeks.
• Ensuring that children are listened to in school e.g. open door policy of the Head Teacher or through book recommendations.
• Holding debates linked to developing a sense of balanced arguments, listening to both sides of the argument.

Mutual Respect

We aim to encourage our children to show mutual respect through:

• Prioritising the development of our children’s social and emotional awareness at the heart of our curriculum.
• Placing a high emphasis upon instilling good manners within our children.
• Holding assemblies which promote the importance of self-respect, honest and open communication with others and fair play.
• Our positive learning behaviour policy, which promotes the importance of showing respect towards others.
• Teaching children to work collaboratively and values each other’s opinions.

Individual Liberty

We aim to encourage all of our children to be responsible citizens through:

• Actively encouraging our children to make positive choices knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment.
• Empowering children with key roles and responsibilities within school e.g. Meal Time Helpers.
• Teaching our children how they can contribute to the well-being of those in the locality and beyond, through many events such as supporting charities and community events. 
• Encouraging all of our children to take responsibility for their behaviour, as well as knowing their rights. We work hard to ensure that all of our children know and feel that they are dealt with fairly and equitably.

Rule of Law

We aim to promote an understanding of the rule of law through:

• Ensuring our school rules are clear and are understood by the children. They are discussed regularly during assemblies and they are consistently used by all staff.
• Delivering a clear a structured and Positive Learning Behaviour Policy.
• Teaching our children, through reflections, to correct their errors or mistakes. 
• Helping our children to distinguish from right and wrong.
• Teaching our children the value and reason behind rules and laws and the consequences if they are broken which is reinforced during assemblies and reflections club.
• Organising visits to the school from authorities such as the Fire Service and Police help reinforce these key messages.

Tolerance of different Faiths & Beliefs

We aim to develop tolerance in our children through:

• Reminding children of their place in a culturally diverse society and this is reinforced through our Religion and World Views curriculum which explores different faiths.
• R and WV lessons teach the children about other faiths as well as their own.
• Providing a rich curriculum, which enables our children to learn about other cultures e.g. Chinese New Year.
• Planned assemblies and class based learning which promotes the diversity of society and the right for each person to be respected and valued equally.
• Where possible inviting members of different faith groups into school to share their knowledge and to enhance our children’s learning and understanding of the beliefs of others.