British Values Curriculum

Intent

At Lincoln Gardens Primary School, we believe that British values is an essential part of a child’s time at school providing them with the knowledge to develop their individual liberty and know their rights as a member of the community both in a school context and the wider community, therefore it is essential that we provide all children with experiences to develop their democracy and individual liberty to help them in later life. The Department for Education states that there is a 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.”  – 2011.

At Lincoln gardens these values are embedded daily in the following ways.

Democracy

Democracy is embedded in Lincoln Gardens. Children are given opportunities to make choices about their school life and can take part in democratic practices like voting for school councillors. Pupils are listened to by adults and are taught to respect the rights of every individual, both adult and child.  

The Rule of Law

The importance of rules and laws are enforced on a daily basis. Children are taught to respect the school rules and follow the Lincoln Gardens Behaviour plan and are also taught the importance of this. Children are led to distinguish between right and wrong and are helped to manage behaviour. Children are involved in both praises and consequences such as class dojos.

Individual Liberty

Within Lincoln Gardens all pupils are encouraged to become independent learners by following the behaviour monsters that children strive to achieve gold in. Children are supported to make choices in a safe and supportive environment, whilst understanding their rights. Children are taught to respect others individual liberty and understand that others have the same rights as them. We encourage a non-bullying environment where children feel safe to express their individual liberty. 

Mutual Respect

At Lincoln Gardens respect is an essential part of school, children to have respect for both adults and each other. This is embedded and modelled by adults in school showing mutual respect to both child and adult the pupils understand that it is expected that respect it shown to everyone, no matter on differences big or small. Children have chances to work in the wider community and continue to develop their mutual respect in the community as well as in school.

Tolerance

The importance of respect means that children are tolerant of those with different faiths and beliefs. Children are able to learn about different faiths and beliefs in their religious education, they are able to learn about the importance of tolerance of those with different faiths throughout history whilst learning about important key figures that fought for their voice to be heard. At Lincoln gardens we take part in global awareness lessons and welcoming visitors from different cultures whilst enjoying learning about the different faiths and encouraged to believe in what they choose. 

Assemblies

British Values assemblies are led fortnightly by the British Values lead and these cover all of the British values as well as linking these into school practice. Children are taught about key people that worked hard so that we can have British values today. Children are actively encouraged to speak their minds and use their individual liberty whilst also supporting others individual liberty. Children are involved with competitions which raise awareness of British Values.

British ambassadors

At Lincoln gardens we have our British values ambassadors which involved a democratic vote to choose a leader for each value. From the vote we now have 4 British Values Ambassadors which will actively take part in British Values assemblies and will receive training to give help and support to other children around the school. 

British Values in Key Stages 1 and 2   

Key stage 1 

Children are introduced to British values in lots of ways like using democracy in choosing. For example, encouraging the children to vote for which book they would want to read and voting for what games to play. Children are also introduced to individual liberty throughout PSCHE using the Jigsaw curriculum to develop and understanding of their rights. Children are constantly developing their mutual respect through interactions with adults and children. Children are introduced to the school behaviour system from the start of school, so they develop an awareness of right and wrong allowing children to later learn about the rule of law.

Key stage 2

Children continue to develop their understanding of British values in the second key stage. They continue learning in many of the same ways however they move onto learning more about tolerance of other faiths and begin to look deeper into the different faiths. Children grow a deeper understanding of the rule of law and continue to use the behaviour system. At Lincoln Gardens we are involved within the community allowing children to show mutual respect within the wider community.