Promoting British Values

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 and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.” At Mersey Park these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways. We keep a special book for each of the values that shows the teaching and learning that has happened throughout the school.

Democracy

Each year at Mersey Park the children decide upon their class charter and the rights associated with these. All the children contribute to the drawing up of the charter. Children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. We have a school council which meets regularly to discuss issues raised in class. The council has its own budget and is able to genuinely effect change within the school. All the council members for each year group are voted in by their class. If you’d like to learn more about democracy and what it means have a look at this video: http://www.parliament.uk/education/teaching-resources-lesson-plans/introduction-to-parliament-ks2-video/

Democracy

The Rule of Law

The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind 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, Fire Service and Merseyrail help reinforce this message. 

Individual Liberty

Within school, pupils 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 choices safely, through provision of a safe environment and 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. Whether it be through choice of learning challenge, of how they record, of participation in our extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

Children 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. Mersey Park is situated in an area which is not greatly culturally diverse, therefore we place a great emphasis on promoting diversity with the children. Assemblies are regularly planned to address this issue either directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. Our RE and PSHE teaching reinforce this. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school. Each year all pupils participate in diversity, multi-cultural and multi-faith projects.

Some Year 5 children went to Bedford Drive Primary to learn about parliament and how new laws are passed in the UK. They then took part in a debate, set up like the House of Commons, about whether school uniforms should be banned for all children. Some fantastic points were made both for and against. Some possible politicians in the making!

 

During Democracy week all pupils in the school had to give a speech before they could be elected to be school council representatives. They found it a great learning experience. These photos are from Year 6. The whole of Year 6 then undertook a ballot to ensure that all children were able to express their choice and felt they could do so in a private way.

We provide the children of MPPS lots of opportunities and enrichment activities to incorporate the British Values into the curriculum. If you would like to find out more about this please click on this link.