British Values

At St. Bernadette’s we strive to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all pupils in our School. Included in their SMSC development is the promotion of our fundamental British values.

Within our School we have a strong ethos which is supported by effective relationships, collective worship and the provision of relevant activities beyond the classroom.

We are a Catholic School which encourages the respect and tolerance of all other faiths, races and cultures.

We expect all pupils to learn and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law.  Parents are aware of the School’s Mission Statement, ethos and the teaching which supports the rule of English civil and criminal law.

Opinions and behaviours which are contrary to British values would be completely at odds with School’s duty to provide an acceptable programme of social, moral, spiritual and cultural education to our children.

Through our teaching and learning of social, moral, spiritual and culture we:

• enable pupils to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence
• enable pupils to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England
• encourage pupils to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the School and to society more widely
• enable pupils to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England
• further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling pupils to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures
• encourage respect for other people
• encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England

Through their knowledge and understanding, our pupils will have:

• an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process
• an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their well-being and safety
• an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence
• an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law
• an acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour
• an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination

Examples of some of the actions that we take:

The following is not an exhaustive list, but provides a snap shot of some of the things we do.

• At St. Bernadette’s we ensure that all pupils have a voice that is listened to through our School Council whose members are voted for by the children
  School Rules are discussed with the children at the beginning of the School Year and a class contract, which features rules decided by and voted upon by the children, is then drawn up
• Pupils are given key roles and responsibilities in School, such as our year 6 children wear a different coloured jumper to the rest of the school. This is to signify their role and responsibilities as ‘Buddies’ to the younger children
• The older children in the School take part in discussions and debates on a range of topics and vote on motions which arise from these
  Our Friday Morning assemblies celebrate children’s achievements and hard work
• Circle times in the Foundation Stage give children the opportunity to discuss how to be a good friend and how to show respect to each other
  Children are encouraged to praise each other’s efforts and this is also modelled by the Staff
• Our School has recently become a member of ‘Lend Me Your Literacy’ where children look at the work of and share their work with other children from across the country
• Through the opportunities offered in our curricular after school clubs, pupils are given the freedom to make choices

Please also see our British Values Policy – listed under the Policies page of our website.