British Values Statement

Helping children to understand and appreciate the British Cultural Heritage they live within, alongside developing and celebrating their own identity, place and contribution within this society.

 

Pentland Infant and Nursery School is a Rights Respecting School. We aim for our children to become valuable and fully rounded members of society, who treat all others with respect and tolerance. We value the community that we are part of and celebrate the diversity of the country and world we live in. We actively promote the basic British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of all regardless of their faith and beliefs.

Our school reflects these British values in all that we do.  We aim to nurture our children and help them grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant adults who make a positive difference to British society and to the wider world.  We believe that it is our responsibility to help children to be creative, open-minded and independent individuals who can contribute successfully to the society in which they live.

 

The Department for Education has introduced a statutory duty for schools to promote British Values more actively from September 2014, and to ensure they are taught in schools.  They define these values as follows:

Respect for democracy and support or participation in the democratic process

Respect for the basis on which the law is made and applies in England

Support for equality of opportunity for all

Support and respect for the liberties of all within the law

Respect for and tolerance of different faiths and religious and other beliefs

 

At Pentland, our assemblies, PSHE and RE lessons in particular provide excellent opportunities to deepen and develop children’s understanding of these values. However, all curriculum areas provide a vehicle for furthering children’s knowledge of the concepts and providing them with the skills to be able to put them into practice in everyday life. 

 

Below are just some examples of how these values are taught and interwoven into the ethos, work and life of our school:

 

Just a few examples of learning about and celebrating British Values at Pentland:

• Our curriculum topics offer children the chance to reflect on our core values and British values in many ways.  For example,  in Year 2, there is a strong focus on the life and work of Florence Nightingale and how she contributed to developing the work of nursing in this country. Pupils also learn about Guy Fawkes, with a focus on London and Houses of Parliament.

 

• As a school we encourage knowledge of current affairs that are significant to us as a nation. The Golden Jubilee was a huge event for the school, with a 'street party' lunch held in the playgrounds and a parade around the streets of Savile Town, dressed as Queens and Kings.

 

• At Christmas, Year One visit a neighbouring school to watch their performance of a traditional Nativity play and all children in school listen to a story from Father Christmas, thereby encouraging the children to understand and respect the Christian faith and celebrations.