BRITISH VALUES

At Glenthorne Community Primary School, we value and celebrate diversity and recognise the multi-cultural and ever-changing nature of Great Britain. We place great importance upon teaching British Values in order for our pupils to be understanding and respectful members of society. 

The British Values we follow and teach in school:

Our pupils will encounter these values throughout everyday school life. The values are also taught both discretely and indiscreetly through our PHSE and RE curriculum, as well as being linked to our curriculum topics and books of study in English. We give children the opportunity to discuss and explore these values, supporting them in becoming active and responsible citizens. 

We also interlink these core British Values with our school’s ‘Five Key Values’, which include: independence, collaboration, tolerance and respect, resilience and high expectations. 

The list below describes the understanding and knowledge expected of our pupils as a result of promoting fundamental British values: 

• 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 wellbeing and safety; 
• 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 should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; 
• understanding the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination. 
  

Democracy

Democratic processes are used throughout our school to make important decisions such as; electing the representatives of our Pupil Leadership Team, Prefects and Head Boy and Head Girl. Pupils wanting to put themselves forward for such posts are encouraged to write and deliver speeches with pupils and staff voting for the representatives. Our Pupil Leadership Teams are involved in making our school a better place to learn, as well as organising special events throughout the year. Children at Glenthorne are given a voice and are actively encouraged to express their ideas and opinions on all aspects of school life. Details on our Leadership Teams can be found under our Pupil Voice tab on the website. 

Personal Responsibility and Liberty 

Children are actively encouraged to make independent choices with the knowledge that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment. We promote freedom of choice and teach children to express their views and beliefs. Pupils are encouraged to understand responsibility throughout school in terms of their behaviour and attitude to learning. 

Mutual Respect

Mutual respect is at the core of our school life. Children learn from a very early age that their behaviour can affect the feelings of others. Our children are taught how to treat each other with kindness, compassion and respect, with all staff members being positive and consistent role models in promoting this. All areas of the curriculum, particularly RE and PSHE, successfully encourage children’s knowledge and understanding of their responsibility when it comes to being respectful of others. 

Tolerance of Different Faiths, Beliefs, Cultural and Lifestyles 

At Glenthorne, we strive to equip our pupils with the ability to understand their place in a culturally diverse society, aiming to give them as many opportunities as possible to learn and experience such differences through trips, visits, cultural understanding days, food tasting, topic work, etc. Our PSHE and RE curriculum provides a broad and balanced education in which children learn about a range of faiths, religions and cultures, right from the beginning of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Our English units also provide children with a window into different cultural backgrounds and family settings, which promote discussion and acceptance of others.