The DfE have recently reinforced the 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, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”

At St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, our school values:  Respect,  Friendship, Compassion, Perseverance, Courage and Thankfulness are at the heart of all that we do and are all linked to the fundamental British values listed above.  We value the backgrounds and diversity of all our pupils and families and we undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. Underpinning all of this, are a range of curriculum topics which further support and embed British Values.

Democracy

School Parliament representatives are elected every year by their classmates.  Each class has a School Parliament representative who is responsible for feeding back to their class after a meeting.

Over the years the School Parliament have been involved in a number of ventures including:

• rejuvenation of the outside learning area
• helping to choose our house names
• interviewing for the appointment of our new head teacher, Mrs Ayres
• bringing a children's voice to the school's behaviour policy

For the past three years children from St Mary’s have been part of the Hinckley & Bosworth Democracy event which is held in celebration of Local Democracy.  Children have the opportunity to be involved to debate, discuss and reflect on local democracy and politics as well as a chance to interact with and pose questions to the Mayor of Hinckley & Bosworth, the Chief Executive of the Council as well as local councillors.  Also, new for 2016, the children were asked to take part in a role play session of a full council meeting which they thoroughly enjoyed.  A copy of the Event Evaluation Report can be found at the bottom of this page. 

The Rule of Law

The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced at St Mary’s.

Pupils are taught from an early age the rules of the school which form the basis of our class expectations, Playground Rules and Safety Rules. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message

Mutual Respect & Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

Much of our school ethos and behaviour policy revolves around our core values, ‘Respect’ being one of these.  Through discussions and assemblies we explore what this means and how it can be shown to others. Respect is promoted around the school and is reiterated through our classroom and learning rule; our daily conversations and expectations as well as through our behaviour policy.

At St Mary’s we value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all of pupils and families.  Our R.E. curriculum enables us to actively promote diversity through celebrations of different faiths and cultures. Religious Education lessons, Assemblies, PSHE lessons and our 'Everyone's Welcome!' programme reinforce messages of tolerance and respect for others. 

Individual Liberty

Within our school, pupils understand that they should feel proud of all the communities to which they belong. We teach the children that we are citizens of the school and wider community and as such they are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment.  As a school we educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make informed choices, through a safe environment and an empowering education.

Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons.