Government guidance states that schools should:

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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.

British values are promoted in so much of what we do at Fairfield and Colneis, not least during our school assemblies, Religious Education and Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) sessions. The values are integral to our long-standing aims embodied in our ‘Opening Minds, Creating Futures’ ethos statement which complements British values and always has done.
Below are just a few examples of how British values have recently been promoted across both schools.
Examples from Fairfield:

• Enabling students to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence – Star Rules, Be the Best You Can Be, PSHE, and Philosophy, circle time- Star of the Week/Listening Tin etc.
• Enabling students to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England – Fairfield Star Rules and Behaviour Policy. Rewards via Star of the Week, Listening Tin, Whole class – Stars in the Jar. Student Council. PSHE/Philosophy. Children look at parliament and justice when learning about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder plot and try to understand the law from different groups’ perspectives. Examination of civil liberties when studying the ‘Be the Best You Can Be ‘ value of equality and learning about Martin Luther King and racial inequality and discrimination. Children have also learnt out about Malala Yousafzai and her campaign to promote education for all children, and year 2 made this the theme of their presentation for Youth Speaks – Having a Voice.
• Tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions – learning about how different festivals and celebrations such as Easter, Christmas and New Year are celebrated in some of the communities represented in the year groups – e.g. Poland, Lithuania, China and Japan. Parents were invited into school to share their traditions. Japanese Wishing Trees were made to celebrate Japanese New Year. The children also celebrated Japan’s Kite festival to mark Children’s Day by writing poems, creating Japanese Art and making koi kites. Children have learnt about Brazil, its culture and traditions and the children have learnt the samba and enjoyed making Brazilian food. They have found out about aboriginal beliefs and wrote their own traditional tales and enjoyed aboriginal art.

Examples from Colneis:

• Remembrance – whole school remembrance service, followed by in class sessions looking at the poppy display at the tower of London and discussions on why remembrance is importan.t
• Democracy – class school council representative elections and house captain / vice-captain elections.
• PSHE – understanding of the impact of bullying (including cyber-bullying). Learning about personal responsibility and impact of choices, including anti-social behaviour and criminal responsibility – BeWise. Road safety – including being responsible for others and reacting to emergencies to provide assistance. Being aware of how their actions may affect others (i.e. feelings of drivers / pedestrians if they are using the roads / pavement incorrectly). Democratically setting classroom rules – listening, respecting, building on others ideas, explaining their reasoning, being able to change their minds, explaining their views.
• Self-knowledge – within lessons – self marking and next steps. Learning resolutions. In January, the children have set their own learning, behaviour and learning power goals for the year.

In addition there is all the work we do in assembly based around respect, tolerance and other cultures. We have also found out about the work of many charities and recently raised funds to support Red Nose Day, Children in Need, Air Ambulance, Water Aid, Oxfam, Christian Aid, The Nepal Disaster Appeal and both local hospices.