British Values

St. Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School is committed to ensure that the pupils who are taught in our school are provided with a broad and balanced curriculum.  One which prepares them for their future adult life and becoming a valued citizen of our ever changing society. We recognise the multi-cultural, multi faith and ever changing society of the United Kingdom and wish to prepare our pupils for the future.   Since September 2014 the Department for Education has introduced a statutory duty for schools to promote British Values more actively and ensure that British Values are taught across the school.  The five key British Values are:

•  Democracy
•  The rule of law
•  Individual liberty
•  Mutual Respect
•  Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

At St. Cuthbert’s Catholic Community School we aim to support our children to have full life in every sense of the word. Full as a person, as a learner, full spiritually, morally, socially and culturally.  The values of the Gospel walk hand in hand with British values.  Bringing with it:-solidarity, joy, truth, faith, hope, love, justice, peace and community with compassion, prayer and dignity.

These values are taught across the curriculum.  We aim to encourage pupils to:

• Reflect on their own and others beliefs gaining an appreciation for other’s viewpoints.
• Gain a sense of enjoyment in learning about themselves, others and the world around them.
• Recognise the difference between right and wrong, consider the consequences of their behaviour, hence gaining an understanding of civil and criminal law in the United Kingdom.
• Gain a knowledge of Britain’s democratic parliamentary system past to present, including how citizens can influence decision-making through a democratic process (Voting and Election)
• Understand, accept, reflect and celebrate diversity, showing a tolerance towards others in local, national and global communities.

The examples below show some of the many ways St Cuthbert’s seeks to instil British Values.

Democracy:

Class rules are negotiated and our school council is democratically elected and regularly seeks the views of pupils on issues such as school improvement, fund raising ideas, charity events, fairness and equal opportunities. A member of the Governing Body attends school council meetings and supports the work of the school council.  Democracy is embedded at the school. Children are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. Children also have the opportunity to air their opinions and ideas through our School Council and regular questionnaires. The elections of the School Council members and House Captains are based solely on pupil votes, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action.

The Rule of Law:

The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, school, or the country, are consistently reinforced across the school on a daily basis.  We present a strong message in terms of code of conduct and the importance and reasons behind these rules.  The school has a comprehensive behaviour policy which is reviewed regularly.  All staff, pupils and parents sign a home /school agreement on admission to the school.  All stakeholders are aware of their responsibilities and consequences of their actions.

The school has close links with the local community police, PCSO’s who regularly visit and informally support the school.  The fire service also visits the school to speak to the pupils about keeping themselves safe and acting responsibly as good citizens should.

The importance of laws whether they are those that govern the class, the academy or the country, are consistently reinforced. Our school follows the rule ‘Be kind’ and this is embedded into our teaching and support for pupils. Our children 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.

Individual Liberty:

Within our school, children are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. At St Cuthbert's, we educate and provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. Our children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely; examples of this can be clearly seen in our online safety and HRE lessons. Whether it is through choice of challenge; of how they record; of participation in our numerous extra- curricular activities; our children are given the freedom to make choices. They understand that with rights comes responsibility.

Mutual Respect:

There is a strong ethos of respect at St Cuthbert’s.  We expect and hold the highest expectations for everyone in our school community.  Adults actively model respect to one another and with the pupils.  We teach the pupils to take pride in themselves, their work, their school and local community. 

Tolerance of Difference and Respect for Others

Our core value of tolerance of and respect for those who have different faiths and beliefs, different genders, different abilities, different families and different economic circumstances underpins our work. St Cuthbert's enhances children's understanding through Religious Education  and different social circumstances through HRE work. Visits out of the school and visitors to the school provide a richness of experience for our children. Through this our children gain an enhanced understanding of their place in a socially and culturally diverse society.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs:

We are proud of the cultural diversity of our school. We strive to provide lots of opportunities for our pupils to learn, understand and tolerate those of different faiths and beliefs. St Cuthbert's has children who are baptised Catholic, Church of England and children who are not baptised.  We celebrate all religions and actively promote diversity through our celebrations of different faiths and cultures.  Religious Education lessons and PSHE lessons reinforce messages of tolerance and respect for others.  Our website illustrates our commitment to exploring our diverse school community. Members of different faiths and religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school. The children visit places of worship that are important to different faiths.

Children with English as an additional language make good progress at our school because their home languages are incorporated and valued around school.

We hope the pupils who attend St. Cuthbert’s Catholic Community School will leave at the end of Key Stage 2 with the skills that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.

At St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School we are passionate about creating an inclusive environment and explore equality and diversity with the children from the minute they join us. 

We want to help shape and mould children to become confident, accepting members of the school and society - children who want to ask questions and who are keen to learn about people who may be different from themselves whether that be down to faith, culture, gender, race or different backgrounds. We have carefully considered how we promote equality and diversity throughout our curriculum through mapping this into our curriculum intent. We ensure that teaching around each specific protected characteristic takes place within our HRE curriculum.