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British Values

Promoting Fundamental British Values

At Birley Spa, we pride ourselves on preparing our pupils for life in modern Britain. We encourage inquisition, motivation and respect, as this ensures our pupils thrive and build the strongest of relationships.

Fundamental British Values permeate every aspect of our curriculum and are taught as part of an integrated approach. Our pupils’ voices are valued and celebrated within every aspect of teaching and learning provision. We foster a culture that ‘Everyone is a Leader’, and as such, the children’s voices are not only heard but listened to and acted upon, through the work of our School Council.

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As part of our curriculum offer we:

  • enable students to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
  • enable students to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England;
  • encourage students to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely;
  • enable students to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England;
  • promote further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions, by enabling students to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures;
  • encourage respect for other people; and
  • encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England.

As a result of teaching the above pupils gain:

  • an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
  • an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
  • an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
  • an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
  • an acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and
  • an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination.

It is not necessary for schools or individuals to ‘promote’ teachings, beliefs or opinions that conflict with their own, but nor is it acceptable for schools to promote discrimination against people or groups on the basis of their belief, opinion or background.

A strong PSHE curriculum underpinned by our SMSC programme assists children in making appropriate choices. Pupils are able to reflect upon their feelings and those of others extremely well, adopting peer mentoring support strategies in order to strengthen partnership working and collaborative learning opportunities. The school’s positive and caring ethos, together with our highest expectations for tolerance, respect, behaviour and learning, ensures all pupils get to truly flourish within an exceptionally calm and harmonious setting.