British Values
British values are inherent in all aspects of academy life at Evergreen Primary Academy. As a multicultural academy, we believe these values are not exclusively British. As a diverse community, we celebrate these values, to enable our children to be global citizens of the future.
These are the British Values we promote at Evergreen Primary Academy:
- Democracy
- Tolerance
- The Rule of Law
- Individual Liberty
- Equality
- Respect
- Rights and Responsibilities
We reflect British values in all aspects of school life. We promote these values in the ways in which staff model behaviour during lessons, whilst moving around the school and during play and lunch times. These values are particularly focused on during weekly Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) lessons and whole school assemblies. They are more explicitly focused on in our Religious Education. These enquiries also focus on each child’s own culture and encourage children to value themselves as individuals.
Democracy
At Evergreen children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. We have a school council which meets regularly to discuss issues raised in class council meetings. Two school council members for each year group are voted in by their class. Pupil voice is heard regularly through surveys throughout the year. This allows pupils to put forward their views about the school. Democracy is explored through a series of lessons in our PSHE curriculum.
The Rule of Law
Pupils are taught why we have laws; that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. The importance of rules are taught when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Visits from the Police, Fire Service and MPs help reinforce this message.
Individual Liberty
Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms. They are encouraged to make choices in a safe and supportive environment and advised how to exercise their rights safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons.
Rights and Responsibilities
Children learn that with rights come responsibilities. They learn that their actions affect their own rights and those of others. As active learners, children are taught to reflect on their own responsibilities in school. Self-awareness, social skills, managing feelings, motivation and empathy are developed in weekly PHSE/SMSC lessons and through assemblies. Children are given the opportunity to reflect on the issues discussed and therefore develop a mindfulness for themselves and others.
Respect
Mutual respect is at the heart of our values at Evergreen: all staff respect all children. We listen to pupils’ and parents’ views through the use of pupil/parent voice and use this information to feed back into school life. All members of the school community treat each other respectfully. Through assemblies and a weekly PHSE/SMSC lesson, children learn about their world, different beliefs and inspiring people in order to help develop their respect. The language of the term (often belonging to some of our new arrivals) is also used to develop respect and tolerance for the many different communities represented in our school. We celebrate our respect for others during cultural learning days and celebrations.
Tolerance
At Evergreen, we embrace our cultural diversity and we use every opportunity to celebrate our cultures. At the beginning of the year children study a PHSE/SMSC topic, ‘celebrating differences’, including lessons on disability and bullying. This supports children in understanding the diversity in our school and the wider community. Children are encouraged to reflect their own identity and culture. Children and families may identify with more than one culture and are given the opportunity to explore this. For example, children might identify themselves as British Asian, Dutch Somali or Black British. As part of the written reports for parents and carers, we include a comment about their children’s level of tolerance, giving them an understanding of whether their child understands the importance of learning about other cultures or whether they need more support in learning to be tolerant. We work closely with parents to encourage a tolerant attitude through discussion and meetings and through our celebration events.
At Evergreen, we will actively challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values.