At Easington Church of England Primary Academy we uphold and teach pupils about British Values which are defined as:
Democracy
Rule of law
Individual liberty
Mutual respect
Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.
Some of these values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE). We also teach the British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.
The school takes opportunities to actively promote British Values through our collective worship and assemblies and whole school systems and structures such as electing and running a School Council. We also actively promote British values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values. Actively promoting British Values also means challenging extremist’ views and promoting tolerance and diversity. As a Church School this also means exploring courageous advocacy.
At Easington CE Primary Academy these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:
Democracy:
In order to reflect the democratic values of our society, we encourage children to value each others’ opinions and this is accomplished through our School Council, restorative circles and pupil surveys.
The appointment of members of the School Council are based on applications from children whilst class charters, rules and precepts are constructed collectively.
Pupils have key roles and responsibilities within the school: worship monitors are elected within his/her own classroom;.
Balanced arguments, debates and discussions are regularly put into practise in each classroom to support the curriculum.
Children are encouraged to voice their opinions and we foster an environment where children are safe to disagree with each other.
The Rule of Law:
The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced. The school has an agreed set of behaviour expectations.
Children are taught that community cohesion and personal responsibility are secured through rules and laws in our society, that they are concerned with our safety and that there are consequences when they are broken. Visits from services such as fire and police take place through the year.
Bikeability in upper KS2 follows on from other Road Safety work earlier in the school.
Individual Liberty:
Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices at our school, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely.
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 teaching and PSHE lessons. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, e.g. signing up for extra-curricular clubs, choose the level of challenge in some lessons and seeking out support where necessary eg. check-ins
Mutual Respect:
Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy are based around our core Christian values such as respect, compassion and friendship, and these values determine how we live as a community at Easington CE Primary Academy. Collective worship promotes personal qualities and values for life and are central to how we expect everyone to conduct themselves at our school. Successes and achievements are celebrated by the whole school in a weekly assembly with parents being invited to join in once a fortnight. Adults in school model the respect which we would expect. Classes have circle times daily to reinforce their respect for one another and within the school.
Tolerance of Those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:
This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity in our school community. Collective worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. Our Christian values underpin all aspects of school life and give the whole school opportunity to discuss and reflect on the values in life that they believe in.
We welcome visitors from a range of faiths, for example, workshops and collective worship about RESPECT through Chrisitanity, Hinduism and Sikhism. We have links with the local churches and a group called ‘Open the Book’ deliver Bible stories in an interactive way to the children.
We use opportunities in the curriculum to explore culture, religion and beliefs across the world. Major world events are embraced as a learning opportunity and theme weeks are often planned.
We are part of a Global Partnership with a school in Sierra Leone. We have a Global Citizenship Council who meet with other schools within the Academy to discuss and recognise global issues affecting different cultures. We regularly communicate with our partner school whose children have a different faith and set of beliefs to our children.
