British Values

At Ore Village we recognise the importance of educating our pupils about the wealth of diversity in Britain. The  British Values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs are incorporated across all areas of school life.  

Through Jigsaw PSHE, British Values are threaded throughout all the lessons. British Values are visited and revisited throughout the programme, so that they are fully embedded in the whole school approach rather than being taught as one-off lessons.

One of the key aspects of Jigsaw is how we enable and teach children to have respectful discussions on even sensitive subjects in the classroom by providing a safe learning environment and building age appropriate content into the lessons which of course become more complex as children get older, and children are able to build on previous knowledge and skill to develop their ability to listen to other respectfully, debate other people’s views respectfully and consider ways that we can be accepting of those who may be different to ourselves. This is of course a key aspect of teaching children about mutual respect as well as tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs as these aspects will at times be part of these discussions.

At Ore Village Primary we promote British Values through the following provision:

Democracy

Pupil voice plays a big part in life at OVPA. 

Our Junior Leadership Team plays a strong role in our school. They are involved in making OVPA a better place by providing a voice to all pupils and sharing their views regularly. Pupils contribute to regular discussion forums, questionnaires and interviews.

We know that the formation of the Junior Leadership Team and the active participation of our pupils will sow the seeds for a more sophisticated understanding of democracy in the future.

We encourage our pupils to become active citizens and participate in democratic discussions in class and in school.

Through our curriculum, pupils discuss and debate fundamental questions about life.

Our pupils are taught to consider and value different perspectives and points of view.

Democracy - How is it evidenced?

  • The election of Pupil Leadership Roles across the school
  • Selecting teams, captains etc in PE
  • We have come up with our class rules by taking everyone’s opinions and thoughts into accounts.
  • We value all of the thoughts and opinions of all members of the class.
  • Pupils challenging, justifying and reasoning as part of learning expectations
  • We can work as a team -practical activities in Maths, discussions in English/wider curriculum subjects
  • Gauging parental opinion at parents’ evenings to understand what our community wants for our school.
  • Discussion of political situations in response to ‘Newsround’

Rule of Law

Our pupils will encounter rules and laws throughout their entire lives. We want our pupils to understand that whether these laws govern the class, the school, the neighbourhood or the country, they are set for good reasons and must be adhered to. This understanding of the importance of rules will be consistently reinforced through assemblies and our curriculum.

The involvement of our pupils in the creation of the school rules and values helps them to understand the reasons behind rules and the consequences if rules are broken. Throughout the year, we welcome visits from members of the wider community including police, the fire brigade and many more. We believe that clear explanations and real life stories emphasise the importance of the Rule of Law for our pupils.

We have a clearly structured Relationships & Behaviour Policy which all stakeholders understand and follow. 

Rule of Law - How is it evidenced?

  • Reinforcing classroom rules, the act of right and wrong and showing children the consequences of their actions
  • Police visitor in school to talk about right and wrong outside school
  • PSHE lessons discussing good and bad behaviours
  • Class rules
  • School rules
  • Junior Leadership Team
  • Children have an understanding of right and wrong
  • PSHE and RE discussion 
  • Awareness of the roles of people who help us in our society
  • Understanding of why we don’t do certain things (wrong things)
  • Child respects the laws of authority
  • Our Relationships & Behaviour policy
  • We understand if we do not follow the school or classroom rules we will have to face the consequences.
  • If we see someone making the ‘wrong’ choice we tell an adult.

Individual Liberty

We invest a lot of time in creating a positive culture in our school, so children are in a safe environment where choices and freedoms are encouraged. We offer a range of clubs which pupils have the freedom to choose from, based on their interests. Through our E- Safety, and PSHE lessons, we educate children on their rights and personal freedoms as well as supporting them in recognising how to exercise these freedoms safely.

At OVPA we believe that valuing choice and freedom in daily school life will foster a value for individual liberty as the children embark upon their adult lives.

Pupils at OVPA have key roles and responsibilities in school.

Individual Liberty - How is it evidenced?

  • Promote respect towards all children
  • Election of Pupil Leadership Roles 
  • Wider Curriculum – children have opportunity to select certain areas to research
  • We choose, for ourselves, activities at lunchtime and after school clubs
  • We know what is right and wrong (and choose the best one in order to stay safe)
  • We choose whole school treats to work towards as a collective reward
  • We encourage children to express their opinions productively and respectfully
  • Discussions relating to people’s moral and political opinions

Mutual Respect and Tolerance

Our school vision, ethos and relationships & behaviour policy revolve around our school CARE values: 

Cooperation, 

Achievement,

Respect, 

Empathy. 

The pupils have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what the values mean and how they are shown. Images and messages around the school promote respect for others and this is reiterated through our school rules to Be Kind, Be Safe & Be Your Best, as well as our Relationships & Behaviour Policy.

We offer a culturally rich and diverse curriculum in which all major religions are studied and respected. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in PSHE. Through our RE curriculum, which teaches the main faiths and focuses upon learning about religion and learning from religion, we promote tolerance of the beliefs of others. Through our curriculum and the routines, we strive to demonstrate tolerance and help children to become knowledgeable and understanding citizens who can build a better Britain for the future.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance - How is it evidenced?

  • Celebrations of different cultural events & religious festivals
  • Celebrate birthdays in assembly
  • Broad RE curriculum covering Islam, Christianity, Sikhism. They experience different cultures within RE and the school
  • In our wider curriculum we think about lives of others
  • In our wider curriculum subjects we look at how to resolve differences
  • We value all of the ideas, thoughts and opinions of all class members.
  • We help each other when they are struggling with their work in class or need a friend on the playground.
  • We treat each other as we wish to be treated ourselves.
  • In our RE lessons we have been comparing the religions of Christianity and Islam.
  • We value the opinions of everyone in class discussions.
  • Daily ‘Newsround’ which increases children’s exposure to range of cultures.