Promoting British Values

At Ashcroft Infant and Nursery School we promote ‘British Values’ through our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education which permeates through the school’s curriculum and supports the development of the ‘whole child’.

At Ashcroft, we recognise that such development is most successful when those values and attitudes are promoted by all the staff and provide a model of behaviour for our pupils.

The DfE reinforce 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 and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”

At Ashcroft Infant and Nursery School these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy:

We believe it is important that the children feel part of the school community and that their opinions and ideas are valued. School Council members are elected by their peers and children have the opportunity to take part in school council meetings throughout the year.

Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through regular School Council Meetings. The members discuss relevant issues in school and also contribute and organise their own fundraising activity to raise funds for the school.

Our whole school Creative Curriculum ensures that our children deepen their understanding and feel part of the local and wider community.

We ensure that each child is given a ‘voice’. We conduct regular questionnaires to gauge children’s thoughts and feelings.

Our Governing Body is comprised of elected representatives from the staff, parents, local authority and the community; they meet termly with the Headteacher.

We invite parents and carers for their views throughout the academic year; the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher are available at the start and end of the school day and regularly greet parents and pupils at the start of the day. The school has an open door policy and prides itself on being a warm and welcoming school.

The Rule of Law:

The importance of laws are consistently reinforced through promotion of our school rules, and school assemblies. The school has a clear and consistent behaviour policy which is reviewed annually. Knowing, understanding and following our school rules is essential for our school to be a safe learning environment. Our school rules are on display throughout the school and are reinforced by all staff members.

Individual Liberty:

Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms, and are advised how to exercise these safely and responsibly, through E- Safety and PSHE lessons. Our PSHE curriculum supports our children to stay safe and contribute positively beyond the school environment.

Our pupils are encouraged to become good and valued citizens. We do this by supporting each pupil to become as independent as possible. We endeavour to demonstrate that everyone has rights. Some pupils will be able to take responsibility for particular roles and to understand that with certain rights comes a level of responsibility. Learning to do things independently is an important part of learning to understand yourself.

We support others by participating in charitable events such as Jeans for Genes, Children in Need, Harvest Collections and Comic and Sports Relief. At Ashcroft we believe that by providing a caring and helpful environment and by learning to be independent we can boost and nurture a healthy self-esteem.

Mutual Respect:

Pupils learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect and this is reiterated through the teaching and learning environments.

Mutual respect is embraced throughout the curriculum by providing the opportunity for pupils to express their views in a safe environment.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

Our RE curriculum, PSHE lessons, assemblies and collective worship reinforce messages of tolerance and respect for others. Key celebrations in different faiths are learned about and stories are shared. Pupils are also taught to recognise the similarities and differences between religions. Our Multi-cultural Days teach children about different countries, religions and cultures.

Prevent Statement

At Ashcroft Infant and Nursery School we aim to prepare our children to become good citizens of the future. Through our curriculum we teach pupils British values and how to celebrate diversity. We aim to raise their awareness of radicalisation and extremist views, whatever the source. We have adopted the principles and advice found in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023’ and the 2023 ‘Prevent Strategy’. These are incorporated into our school policy on tackling extremism.

• Link to Prevent Duty