British Values
British Values Statement
Weald Rise Primary School is committed to serving its community. We recognise the multi-cultural, multi-faith and ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom and our local area, Harrow. The Department for Education has 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.”
Using strategies within the National Curriculum, and supported by our strong community ethos, we will work to support and develop these values in our children throughout their time in our school.
Democracy:
The school promotes the understanding of democratic processes by encouraging pupil feedback to staff, in the writing of the Class Charter, and through the election of school councillors to represent each class. The School Council fosters the concepts of freedom of speech and of group action to address the needs and concerns of the children.
The Rule of Law:
The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the class, the school, or the country, is consistently reinforced throughout the school day. Pupils are taught the values and reasons behind the laws that govern and protect us: that they include both rights and responsibilities and that there are consequences when laws and rules are broken.
Our school assemblies are themed around the articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the school is actively working towards gaining UNICEF’s ‘Rights Respecting School Award’.
The concepts of fair play (following and developing rules, celebrating and rewarding success, accepting defeat, participating in activities that promote cooperation with others, and inclusion for all) form an integral part of our PE curriculum.
Individual Liberty:
Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices with the knowledge that they are in a safe and supportive environment. Whether it be through a choice of challenge or how they record their work, of participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices. They are encouraged to know, understand and safely exercise their rights and personal freedoms through, for example, E-Safety and PSHE lessons.
Mutual Respect:
Mutual respect is taught within formal PSHE and RE lessons and on an informal nature throughout each day. Children show respect for other cultures and are encouraged to respond to the register in their home languages or any other language. In addition, some of our displays around the school are interpreted to other languages. Our school rules and aims promote respect for others and this is reiterated through our classroom and learning rules, as well as our behaviour policy.
Our annual International Event celebrates our unity as a tolerant and inclusive school; this is celebrated through dance, music, art and visiting speakers.
Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:
Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs is promoted in RE as children gain a greater understanding of religious diversity and practices for those religions represented in the UK. Children show respect for each other’s faiths and beliefs through marking traditional calendar festival days with class assemblies. Local places of worship are also visited as part of the RE curriculum in order that children may gain a better understanding of the faiths and traditions in this, one of the UK’s most religiously diverse boroughs.
