-Primary-School.png "Powell's School Church of England (VA) Primary School")
Powell's SchoolBritish Values Statement
At Powell’s C of E Primary School, we are committed to developing our future citizens who, as adults, will become respectful and active members of society. Promoting an acceptance of, and engagement with, our fundamental British values provides the building blocks to our children’s future.
Guidance from the Department for Education states that all schools have a duty to promote the fundamental British values of: *Democracy *Individual liberty *The rule of law *Mutual respect of and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs and those without faith. We promote these values in the following ways:
Democracy
Democracy allows our pupils to influence the decisions that will impact their school lives. We want our pupils to know that they have a voice and that they are heard. We run a number of different groups representing a broad range of areas that we are all passionate about and impact both the children’s lives and our wider community. We have a School Council, Eco-Warriors, Well-being Wonders and Geography News Hounds. At the beginning of each academic year, the pupils in Years 1 to 6 are able to nominate themselves and present their manifesto to the class. The elections are based on a secret ballot, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action. The winning representatives are announced in a celebration assembly in the first few weeks of term. Meetings take place throughout the year. The group representatives gather thoughts and ideas from their classmates, which they feedback and influence the main aims and priorities of the group for the year.
Other examples of pupils’ voice are: Class charters: Our class charters are based on the UN convention on the Rights of the Child. Pupils learn that every child has the right to be heard and that in order for this to happen every child must also learn to listen. Nominations: Children can nominate for others to receive a ‘values leaf’ when they believe that another pupil has displayed that value. Pupil conferencing: subject leaders involve pupils in the monitoring of their subject through gathering their thoughts and ideas about the subject. All pupils are taught to take responsibility for their school, each other and their learning. Thus, fostering a sense of responsibility for themselves and the world around them.
Individual liberty
At Powell’s we pride ourselves on providing a safe, secure and nurturing environment for our pupils to learn and grow. It is this environment that encourages pupils to respectfully express their views and beliefs and enables children to make their own choices, which they are actively encouraged to do. Therefore, teaching pupils that they have rights and freedoms as a member of our school and of society. Our school rules and values provide boundaries to enable the pupils to make informed choices, whether this may be which level of challenge to choose in their work, or which after school activities they wish to attend. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe through our PSHE curriculum and E-safety lessons. Powell’s has a robust behaviour policy and an anti-bullying culture, with every child being taught to value the differences that make us all unique.
The rule of law
Rules and laws, whether those that govern a class, our school or country, are reinforced and referred to often, as an integral part of helping pupils to understand why choices and decisions are made. They are referred to on a daily basis and are interweaved through everything we do. For example: *in our class charters – a set of principles created by each class at the beginning of the year, that enable all pupils to learn effectively. *to help reflect on behaviour choices. *as a message that runs through Worships. *throughout the curriculum e.g. rules of different religions in Religious Education, or rules for sport in PE. *when reminding children how to keep safe in and out of school. *when referring to our homework policy and ‘home to school’ agreements. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind the laws that govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from the local authorities reinforce this message and our Year 6 pupils take part in the annual Mock Trial at the magistrates court in Cirencester. Mock Trials are an effective and fun way of helping young people understand how the judicial system works.
Mutual respect of and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs and those without faith
Mutual respect is at the centre of life at Powell’s. It is our first school rule - ‘We respect everyone and everything’ – and is one of our 5 core Christian Values. We aim for all pupils to understand that showing respect is not only expected, but crucial in developing healthy relationships and understanding that their behaviour choices have an impact on not only themselves, but those around them. This is reiterated in all relationships at school, pupils and adults alike, and through the teaching and learning environments. Powell’s is a Church of England VE school and the majority of our pupils are of white ethnicity. We believe that it is vital for our pupils to understand the diverse wider society that they live in. Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs is taught through our broad and balanced curriculum, where links are made to the importance of faith for others and the way they live their lives. Where possible, links are made with those of other faiths and visits are arranged either to the school or to their place of worship to share their beliefs and ways of life with our pupils. Life’s ‘golden rule’ - treat everyone the way we want to be treated’, is included in our school rules. Through this we encourage acceptance of all, valuing difference and diversity. Each year group uses a different key book once per term, in order to specifically teach what ‘valuing difference’ looks like in practice. Therefore, making it real and meaningful to the children.
