British Values at Ridgeway Primary Academy

It is part of our mission to ensure that all children who attend Ridgeway Primary Academy become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect. We strive to ensure that children leave the school fully prepared for life in modern Britain.

British Values:

• The Rule of Law
• Democracy
• Individual Liberty
• Mutual Respect
• Tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs

The Rule of Law

We teach children the importance of rules and laws, whether that be rules that we have in school in order to keep everybody safe, or laws that govern our country. At the beginning of each year, teachers carefully explain our whole school rules to children and any specific rules they have for their class. Teachers revisit these as necessary throughout the year to ensure that everybody is able to learn in a safe and tidy environment.

Pupils are taught about rules and laws across the curriculum. They are taught the value and reasons behind laws, the responsibilities involved and the consequences when laws are broken. These values are reinforced at Ridgeway in different ways:

• In specific subject areas e.g. PSHE
• During assemblies and workshops
• During visits from authorities such as the police
• During R.E. when rules for particular faiths are thought about
• When lessons are taught that require specific rules to be followed e.g. in a football lesson during P.E.

Democracy

Children have regular opportunities to have their ideas, views and opinions heard and are taught about the processes and procedures involved in democracy.

At Ridgeway, we have a school council that meets every half term. That means that all children across the school are able to have a voice on issues that will affect them. The meetings take place in mixed year groups.

Children have discussed ideas around improving the playground, fundraising, anti-bullying and more! Once the meeting is over, a member of staff collects all of the meeting notes and shares them so children can see what other children thought and discussed. At the beginning of a new meeting, there is a review or update about what was discussed in the last.

Pupils are encouraged to share their views of the school regularly with members of the Senior Leadership team and Curriculum Leaders.

Individual Liberty

At Ridgeway, we encourage all of the children to make appropriate choices within our supportive and inclusive school. We educate and provide boundaries for children to ensure they understand how to be safe and make sensible choices. Through the broad curriculum offer, children learn about their rights and responsibilities across different subjects, for example in PSHE, computing or P.E. Our regular focus days/weeks, workshops or assemblies also help children to make positive choices in their learning and behaviour.

Mutual Respect

At Ridgeway, all members of the school community are expected to treat each other with respect. We expect adults to be positive role models for the children and behave appropriately at all times.

We encourage all of the children to respond to each other and adults in a calm manner and encourage them to listen to each other; taking turns when speaking. When children are learning outside of school, for example, when they are taking part in an educational visit, we expect children to show respect for things and other people within the wider community. It is often commented that children at Ridgeway show good listening skills when outside of school.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

At Ridgeway, we try to maximise opportunities to share the cultures and faiths represented within our school and to learn about those which are not. As part of our R.E curriculum, children learn about different world faiths and beliefs and these are actively explored during lessons. We celebrate a range of different festivals from major world religions and enjoy involving the children themselves and their families to help to share their cultures with others. We plan to host an international event every year where families will make, dance and share with the rest of the school community. We welcome visitors from a range of cultures and plan educational visits to religious establishments which enhance our pupils’ experiences.