Promoting British Values at William Harding School

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.”

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values were reiterated by the Prime Minister in 2014.

 At William Harding we promote these values and they are reinforced regularly and in the following ways;

 Democracy; a respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic process

  • School Council

  • Pupil roles

  • Pupil voice

  • Gem Time

  • Curriculum; debates, assemblies, PSHE, History - pupils learn about leaders & about the advantages and disadvantages of democracy and how it works in Britain

The Rule of Law; respect for the basis on which the law is made and applies in England and supports equality of opportunity for all

  • School Rules and Values; the importance of laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school, or the country

  • Pupils are taught from an early age the rules of the school

  • Behaviour policy rules, Playground rules, Hall rules and Classroom rules.

  • Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws, that they protect us, the responsibilities (School value link) that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken

  • Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message

  • Curriculum; pupils learn to be able to distinguish right from wrong and how to resolve conflict. They understand how to be moral (SMSC link) and what this looks like in our school

  • Ethos; our policies state the expectations for all members of our school community to promote equality, the principle of equal treatment for all people irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, disability, religious belief/non-belief, sexual orientation, age, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity status; Inclusion (School value link). We also expect staff to challenge discrimination.

 Individual Liberty; support and respect for the liberties of all within the law

  • Curriculum; pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example, through our E-Safety, Computing and PSHE lessons

  • Choice; through their own actions and social behaviours (SMSC link)

  • Clubs; choice of which to attend

 Mutual Respect (School value link)

  •  School Rules & Values; Respect, Collaboration, Honesty

  • Respecting; our school, our classrooms, resources, people, animals and ourselves

 Tolerance of Those with Different Faiths And Beliefs

  • Curriculum; actively promote diversity through RE/PSHE celebrations of different faiths and cultures and the children visit places of worship that are important to different faiths.

  • WH context; as a multi-cultural school we have a high number of EAL pupils with 39 different languages

  • School Motto; Be kind

  • School Value; Inclusion (School value link)