British Values

British Values Statement

At St Alphege CE Infant School we are fortunate that our school community represents a rich variety of home and cultural backgrounds.

We take our responsibility very seriously to support our children in becoming good local, national and global citizens of the future; nurturing and modelling high expectations of love, care and responsibility for one another.

We teach our children through an exciting curriculum that matches the requirements of the EYFS Framework and the National Curriculum. We also incorporate the life experiences and interests of our pupils and carefully reflect these through the learning opportunities we provide.

The Department for Education states that there is a need:

“To create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to 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.”

Our school reflects British values in all that we do, underpinned by core values of Peace, Thankfulness, Koinonia (community), Love and Forgiveness, which can be seen as equally relevant whether our families are from a Christian, other faith or non-faith background.

We encourage all our children to be creative, unique, open-minded and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and others in our school.

The work that we do with the local Whitstable community reinforces our children’s understanding of their important place within our local community and beyond.

At St Alphege we actively promote British values in the following ways:-

Democracy

Pupils are given a ‘loud voice’ at St Alphege and are actively encouraged to share their ideas and interests and make a meaningful contribution to the running of the school.

Our T.E.D. teams (Together Everyone Decides), reinforce this model, when groups of children work from start to finish solving an issue, developing an area of school life or linking with other local schools to share ideas.

Rule of Law

We have a clear and positive Behaviour Policy, which helps pupils make good choices about their behaviour. Each class draws up a Charter together at the beginning of the school year. The children are helped to distinguish right from wrong in the classroom, around the school and on the playground. This is supported by the Charters, which identify the ‘Rights’ that the children at each age and stage should expect and also what their collective responsibilities are.

We give the children lots of small roles with responsibility through the school, and this helps them feel a sense of pride and self-worth; which reinforces an understanding of what is ‘the right thing to do.’

At St Alphege the Arts are central to our core curriculum offer for all children. We have children who are developed as Arts Leaders. They work towards achieving The Arts Council nationally accredited qualifications called ‘Discover’ and ‘Explore’. For more information about these awards go to Artsaward.org.uk The challenge of leading learning and planning underpins respect for one another.

Parents and visitors encourage children to respect the law and understand the important role that services like the RNLI, police, fire brigade and ambulance service has in our community.

Individual Liberty

At St Alphege children are given the freedom to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. They are supported to develop self-knowledge, self-confidence and resilience to cope with set-backs.

The RE, Collective Worship and PSHE curriculum reinforce opportunities to explore views and opinions.

Mutual respect and Tolerance with Different Faiths and Beliefs

Our children are treated with respect and they witness our respect for their families, for each other across the whole school staff and Governing Body and with the community at large.

We challenge prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour of any kind; and positively promote the experience and understanding of difference. We use regular meetings with families to listen and share important information, and work together to do this.