British Values

Promoting and Supporting British Values at St Peter's

At St Peter's we strive to support and model British Values in all that we do. These values teach our children about important aspects of the world around them and help them to reflect on their own journey in our society. We engage in British Values alongside our Catholic faith as ways to guide us to live thoughtful, tolerant, and respectful lives. At St Peter's we recognise, not only the importance of helping students to flourish academically but also spiritually, morally, socially and culturally, so they are fully prepared for life in British society and for their role as citizens, able to make the strongest possible contribution to the Common Good of all.

Following guidance from the Department of Education, at St Peter's we strive to:

“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.”

Here is how we teach and embody these British Values in our school:

Democracy

We live in a democracy, which allows us to express our thoughts fairly and freely and have a say in the way in our society is governed. We have an elected School Council which allows children to express their thoughts freely and is used as an opportunity to teach the children the workings of democratic processes. Also, the school regularly conducts children’s questionnaires to inform the Senior Leadership on the student’s opinions and allows the children to have an impact on the direction of the school. St Peter's encourages volunteering in and out of school to encourage responsibility and a sense of community. Within school our volunteering opportunities include our playground leaders, reading buddies and also raising money for local and national charities. In the classroom and our assemblies, democracy is promoted through our PSHE lessons which teach the children about the world around them and how they can contribute to it.

The Rule of Law

At St Peter's 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. The children understand that rules also exist within the classroom which are in place to keep everyone safe during their learning and remind us that we are bound by common expectations regarding our behaviour as indicated in St Peter's Behaviour Policy. There are rewards for exhibiting good and caring behaviour and consistent demonstration of our school core values. Weekly awards are given to pupils who display the school values and uphold good behaviour both in and out of the classroom. Through our school assemblies, Jigsaw PSHE lessons, and stay and pray sessions the children are taught how to earn trust and respect and are supported to develop a strong sense of morality; knowing right from wrong and doing the right thing even when it’s difficult. We have support to demonstrate the rule of law from our local community, receiving visits from the local Fire and Police services.

Individual Liberty

At St Peter's children are free to express their thoughts and feelings in class, allowing them to flourish as free-thinking individuals. Children are also taught the importance of keeping safe when expressing yourself, especially online, through ICT lessons and the wider PSHE curriculum. Through our school core values and the Jigsaw PSHE program, children are taught about personal responsibility, choices, ambition and aspiration. They are encouraged to take opportunities to follow their interests in art, music, sport etc. and given opportunities to do this through a range of school clubs.

Mutual Respect

At St Peter's every child is taught they are special and unique human beings deserving of respect and that those around them are deserving of the same considerations. At St Peter's respect is embedded into the core values of our school and is modelled by pupils and staff alike. The school promotes respect for others, and this is reiterated through our classroom and learning environments as well as extra-curricular activities such as sport. Through our school’s core values and virtues, Faith theme days, SEAL, PSHE and stay and prayer children are taught to respect each other, to be cooperative and collaborative, be supportive and to look for similarities while being understanding of differences. We always have high expectations for all of pupils which are clearly stated in our Behaviour Policy and Single Equality Policy.

Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

At St Peter's, we help children to understand the world around them through equipping pupils with the ability to develop positive values, understand their own beliefs and their place in a culturally diverse society. Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs is promoted through the Syllabus for Religious Education and our Faith based theme days. Children learn about different religions, their beliefs, places of worship and festivals. The children’s work on this subject or whole school learning in assemblies is often displayed in the classrooms or around the school. This is supplemented by assemblies (Key Stage and whole school), which often mark and celebrate significant religious festivals of the school’s Catholic faith and other faiths