British Values

At St Peter’s we ensure that through our vision, values, rules, curriculum and teaching we promote tolerance and respect for all cultures, faiths and lifestyles. We have a duty to prepare our pupils for life in modern Britain and to keep them safe.  As an academy we value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all pupils and families; we undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these.

The Department for Education state that there is a 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 St Peter’s these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy – To understand how we can influence decision making through a democratic process.

Democracy is embedded at the school.  Pupils are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with empathy, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard.  Pupils also have the opportunity to give their opinions and ideas through our school council.  The elections of the council members are based solely on pupil votes, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action. In addition, we are hoping to organise visits to the local council and hold a parliamentary week where pupils can find out more and learn how to argue and defend points of view. The principle of democracy is also explored in the History and RE curriculum as well as in assemblies. We explore how democracy and the law works in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries.

The Rule of Law – To appreciate that living under the rule of law protects us and is essential for our well-being and safety.

The importance of laws whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout our school day, through our school assemblies and also when dealing with behaviour in school. We encourage our pupils to distinguish right from wrong and help pupils to understand that living under the rule of law protects individuals.  Our 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 the Police, Fire Service etc. also help to reinforce our messages. Our restorative behaviour approach helps us to resolve conflicts.

Individual Liberty – To understand that the freedom to choose is protected in law.

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 our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. We support pupils to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence.  Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely; examples of this can be clearly seen in our e-safety and PSHE lessons. We implement a strong anti-bullying culture and pride ourselves on having achieved our bronze ‘Beyond Bullying’ award. We are striving for our silver award next.

Mutual Respect – To understand that while people may hold different views, we may show respect towards them.

At the heart of our whole school ethos is a commitment to our  ‘St Peter’s Way’ – a set of core Christian values that we believe contribute to individuals being able to live happy and successful lives within the communities to which they belong. Each value is chosen to underpin the need for mutual respect between our pupils and their peers, staff, their families and their wider community.  Our values are taught through assemblies and PSHE sessions and form a key part of our daily dialogue across school.   Respect is promoted across school and it is deeply embedded in all that we do at the school.  The pupils know and understand that it is expected and imperative that respect is shown to everyone, whatever differences we may have and to everything, however big or small. We show this respect to our school visitors too.     A very wide range of extra-curricular clubs are offered at St Peter’s both at lunchtime and after the school day. Some of our Year 5 and 6 pupils read with our younger pupils and run clubs at lunchtimes. These experiences provide more opportunities for mutual respect to be secured in the attitudes of our pupils.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs – To accept that others have different faiths or beliefs (or none) and these should be accepted and tolerated.

This is achieved through enhancing pupils understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity.

Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying are regularly held.

We follow the Leicestershire agreed syllabus for RE which provides a broad and balanced education on a range of faiths, religions and cultures.