British Values

The Department for Education have 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."

The five British Values are:

• Democracy

• The rule of law

• Individual liberty

• Mutual respect

• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

At Orchard Lea, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy:

Each year 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 within school council meetings who then inform the rest of their class. These school council members for each year group are voted in by their class.

Subject leaders also take time to ask children about their learning in that area through pupil conferencing.

The Rule of Law:

The importance of Laws, whether they are governed by 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 help reinforce this message.

Pupils are helped to learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions.

Individual liberty:

Pupils at Orchard Lea are actively encouraged to make the correct choices. 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 in computing and PSHE lessons.

Orchard Lea has an anti-bullying culture and has a comprehensive Behaviour Policy in place which can be found in our policy section.

Mutual respect:

Mutual respect is at the heart of our values and is reinforced as one of our learning values. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community are encouraged to treat everyone with respect, this is reiterated through teaching and learning environments.

Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs:

Orchard Lea is situated in an area which is not greatly culturally diverse, therefore we place an emphasis on promoting diversity with the children. Assemblies are regularly planned to include stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. Our RE and PSHE lessons reinforce this by providing a broad and balanced education on a range of faiths, religions and cultures. Discussions involving prejudices have been followed up and supported by learning in RE and PSHE.