Teaching British Values

We value the diversity and differences of all our pupils and celebrate this through our culture, ethos, approach to lessons and the respectful relationships we promote. We believe that commitment and celebration of our diversity makes us collectively stronger, tolerant and respectful of the differences in our community and the wider world.

The Department for Education defines British Values as follows:

• Respect for democracy and support or participation in the democratic process

• Respect for the basis on which the law is made and applies in England

• Support for equality of opportunity for all

• Support and respect for the liberties of all within the law

• Respect for and tolerance of different faiths and religious and other beliefs

At Montacute School we have achieved ‘Recognition of Commitment’ award from UNICEF for introducing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to our students, staff, families, stakeholders and the local and international community. We are actively working towards achieving the Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award. As part of this work we teach our young people about the rights of every child and ultimately their responsibility to ensure other children have their rights respected too. Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment.

Through our Religious Education curriculum all pupils will learn about key faiths, as well as Christian celebrations and rites of passage. Our students visit local places of worship and we celebrate key Christian Festivals, often at our local church. We have found this enables our students to develop awareness and understanding of Christianity, whilst learning about other faiths helps to develop tolerance towards others.

We have a School Council. There are representatives of most classes in school and the council elects the officers annually through an election. The School Council meets monthly for general business where they follow an agenda and take minutes. Students on the council learn to vote and take part in democratic decisions such as deciding on the school’s annual charity or the colour of the school uniform. The Council also meets more often for on-going projects such as developing School Charters, a new school logo, and feeding back their views in to school effectiveness such as ‘What is good teaching?’. With the support of the School’s Speech and Therapy team we are promoting ‘Pupil Voice’ to enable our students to learn to self advocate, contribute, discuss, and co-operate.

Our School Council Officers represent our school at the Poole Special Educational Needs Youth Council and attend Authority wide conferences looking at issues such as ‘Anti-bullying’.

Visits from authorities such as the Police; Fire Service; Ambulance etc. are regular parts of our calendar. Students regularly visit ‘Streetwise’ and learn about road safety, emergency services, railway safety and bus safety. In learning how to be safe, they also learn about the ‘rules’ and ‘laws’ that help to keep them safe.

Our school reflects British values in all that we do. We aim to nurture our children on their journey through life so they can grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible, and tolerant adults who make a positive difference to British society and to the world. We encourage our children to be creative, unique, open-minded, and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and of others in our school, our local community, and the wider world. The school uses strategies within our Curriculum and beyond to secure such outcomes for students. The examples that follow show some of the many ways our school seeks to embed British values.