British Values
Mrs Priddis is our British Values Lead.
There DfEe has ‘created and enforced 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’.
All stakeholders in the Southmead Primary School community ensure that British Values run through everything we do.
Democracy
As our pupils progress through the school, our curriculum emphasises many aspects of democracy.
The school has an active School Council and strong Eco values.
We teach children about democracy through:
- Children being involved in democratic processes e.g. voting for pupil councillors, rewards and incentives
- School Council
- Pupil Voice
Rule of Law
Our school values are RESPECT: Respect, Equality, Self-Confidence, Perseverance, Enjoyment, Curiosity and Trust.
School rules are important in ensuring that these values are realised. Pupils regularly discuss various aspects of behaviour. Classes begin each new year by agreeing Class Rules which are displayed in each classroom. In this way, every child knows the standard of behaviour expected of them.
The school manages behaviour through our Positive Behaviour Policy where the main principle is to concentrate on Positive Behaviour choices. We use a range of rewards, such as House Points, Time to Shine assemblies and Star of the Week awards. (There are also sanctions within our Positive Behaviour Policy which we use when this becomes necessary.)
We teach children about the rule of law through:
- Positive Behaviour Policy
- Class agreements
- Traffic Light System for behaviour
- Reflecting on behaviour and learning during lessons
- Parent / carer questionnaires which include questions about behaviour
Our House Points system is based on our four houses which take their name from influential figures of recent times:
Hawking House:
Stephen William Hawking (1942 - 2018), worked on the physics of black holes. He proposed that black holes would emit subatomic particles until they eventually exploded. He also wrote best-selling books, the most famous of which was A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes (1988).
Malala House:
Malala Yousafzai (1997 – date), is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate and second Pakistani. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan, where the Tehrik-i-Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.
Farah House:
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah CBE OLY (1983 - date), is a Somali-born, British, long-distance runner and the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history. He is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medalist in both the 5000m and 10000m.
Watson House:
Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (1990 - date), is an English actress and activist. She has gained recognition for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as her women's rights work.
Individual Liberty
We take collective responsibility to ensure that individual liberties are respected.
We run a comprehensive range of interventions to ensure all learners can achieve their potential.
We have a comprehensive range of clubs held before, during and after school, for our pupils to attend.
We teach children about individual liberty through:
- Understanding responsibility in school in terms of positive behaviour and learning attitudes (including well-being)
- Pupil roles in school – monitors / helpers
- School values
- Local and national fundraising
- Community links – Ask for Jake, Remembrance Day Parade
- Assemblies
- Anti-bullying
- Sports values
Mutual Respect
Southmead Primary School is a community school where we all work together, enjoy learning and are positive of the contribution we make. Our school values all contribute to the general overarching ethos of RESPECT.
We teach children about mutual respect through:
- PSCHE curriculum and assemblies
- Positive relationships being encouraged and modelled
- Inclusive ethos
- Antibullying assemblies and discussions
- School Council
- Sports Day
- Trips within the local and wider community
- Visitors
- Collaboration with schools in the Braunton Learning Cooperative Trust
- PE values
- Discussing and promoting well-being
- Maintaining the school allotment
Tolerance
Southmead Primary School has a caring community, whose values are built on mutual trust and respect for all. We aim to promote an environment where everyone feels happy, safe and secure. We promote good relationships to provide pupils with inspirational, high-quality education where all achieve, in order to prepare them for the global workplace of the 21st century, teaching both tolerance and understanding and promoting a community spirit in which all make a contribution.
We teach children about tolerance through:
- Collaboration with schools in the Braunton Learning Cooperative Trust
- Assemblies – stories from world faiths and cultures
- Reflection opportunities in assemblies
- School curriculum
- Being an inclusive school
- Special assemblies – Harvest, Christingle, Remembrance Day
- PSCHE