British Values
The British Values curriculum is taken from the National Curriculum which promotes the importance of what it means to be a citizen in a diverse and modern-day Britain today. Each academic year, we plan six celebration days which are specific to the events taking place in Britain that year, for example the Kings Coronation.
Children are provided with exciting opportunities to develop their understanding of the following, fundamental British Values: democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Embedded deep within our school ethos, we also promote children’s (SMSC) Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development in order to ensure we are taking the responsibility to prepare children for modern day Britain seriously.
British Values is lived out within the daily school ethos where we provide inclusive learning and boundaries for our children to embed these values through our teachings. Learning and understanding begins in our two year old provision through explorative play and carries continuously throughout the school to Year 6 with children producing powerful writing and presentations. Teachers also link their teaching and learning half termly to the key celebration days. We showcase our fabulous learning through our annual school floor book which includes photographs, QR codes showing videos of children’s learning and children’s voices, pieces of children’s writing and drawings.
Children may research culture or history and provide presentations of their learning, such as a day in the life of a faith or culture (exploring food or cultural dances) or express themselves and their understanding through writing (e.g. remembrance poetry and letters). Children are encouraged to visit the celebration display and explore the floor book daily within the school hall as well as visiting with their teacher when there is a change in focus. The British Values curriculum is accessible and inclusive for all children including SEND where all children are provided with the opportunity to use ICT (voice recording), develop practical skills (dance) or take responsibility and share their voice and opinions. The curriculum encourages children to be confident, proud and respectful to themselves and others.
Teaching staff are provided with an engaging British Values Curriculum at the beginning of each academic year, which provides the six key celebration days alongside guidance on the opportunities which will be provided to children in order to ensure the fundamental British Values and SMSC skills are taught and embedded within each child’s learning. One of the many strengths of the British Values Curriculum at Hummersea Primary School is that it holds cross curricular links with subjects including Literacy, History, RSE/PSHE and RE and these are apparent within children’s personal understanding.
The Key Celebration Days for this academic year are Diwali, Remembrance, Chinese New Year, St David’s Day, St George’s Day and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
We share children’s learning of the fundamental British Values, celebration days and children’s SMSC development with parents via up-to-date social media posts on Facebook. These posts provide pictures, videos and information on the children’s present learning taking place in school. Parents are also able to access the school floor book and school displays when they visit school for various events.
We encourage children to take responsibility for our school community and therefore have a group of ‘Safeguarding Superheroes’ who are encouraged to be a supportive role model to peers and to ensure all adults within school are following safeguarding protocols correctly. They are aware of the coloured lanyards policy and the adults who have a duty to safeguard all children.
Children attend assemblies twice weekly which are engaging, interactive and relevant to life in Britain. These assemblies encourage children to question and challenge their own understanding and take responsibility for their learning. In addition, children are encouraged to be proud and confident of their personal development and achievements each week.
As a school, we feel it is our responsibility to ensure children are well equipped for life in a modern and diverse British society. Our aim is for our children at Hummersea Primary School to be tolerant, resilient, respectful and worldly. Our curriculum ensures children have self-awareness, self-confidence and self- esteem to accept responsibility for their actions and to contribute positively to those living and working in the locality of school and wider society. Children are empowered to express their voice and make their own choices recognising the powerful impact they can have within school and the local community. Through the provision of exciting opportunities for learning within our school and our wider community, our children develop further tolerance and respect for different cultural traditions and faiths. All of our children are inspirations for our school and they recognise the importance of what it means to be a positive citizen and the key part they play within the Hummersea Primary School family.
