Promoting Fundamental British Values

In accordance with The Department for Education, we aim to actively promote British values in schools to ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law.

The Key Values are:

• democracy
• rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect
• tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs 

We aim to ensure the children who leave River Primary are conscientious, well-rounded and valuable members of society. A key part of achieving this is enabling our children to develop:

• An understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process

• An understanding that the freedom to hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law

• An acceptance that people having different faiths and beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of discriminatory behaviour

• An understanding of the importance or identifying and combating discrimination

The mission statement and aims of the school clearly reflect these values, and the whole school strives to uphold them.

What are we doing in school?

Democracy

• Selecting classroom job roles. 
• Voting for class ECO Warrior representatives. 
• Voting for class School Council representatives. 
• Voting for school Ocean Ambassadors. 
• Voting as a Whole school for the Year 6 THRIVE Ambassadors. 
• Independently choosing items/play equipment through OPAL play. 
• Making suggestions through different points in the year linking to School Council/Eco Warrior projects. 

Rule of Law

• Explicitly teaching of the rules and laws of our country. 
• Enforcing the rules and laws through following the school behaviour policy and ensuring that children are aware of the rules and the consequences for breaking these rules.
• Ensuring children are aware of the reward system and understand how following the rules will result in rewards and successes.
• Formulating 'Class Charter' and 'OPAL Play Charter'. 
• Linking with the wider community; police and fire department. 

Individual Liberty 

• Giving individual roles within the school such as our 'River Rangers'. 
• Encouraging children to make their own choices in a safe and secure environment. 
• Learning about moments in History when liberty has been challenged or compromised e.g. Black History Week, How united is the united Kingdom?, WW1 and WW2. 
• Encouraging and teaching children to share their own thoughts, feelings and beliefs in a respectful way during class discussions. 
• Equipping children with the skills to act safely and freely to support themselves and others: taking part in 'Restart a heart' event, Bike ability and NHS days. 

Mutual Respect and Tolerance

• Taking part in weekly assemblies focusing on: different beliefs (religious and non-religious); differences in individuals needs, abilities and characteristics; supporting others and ourselves when keeping a healthy mind and body; celebrating current affairs around the world; understanding yearly and occasional events and their importance. 
• High quality teaching and learning is PSHE and RE. 
• Creating class 'Charters' to develop understanding of rules to follow in the class to ensure everyone feels safe, happy and respected. 
• Class discussions to teach children to listen to each other's opinions and take turns. 
• Taking part in celebration assemblies to celebrate the successes of peers. 
• Taking part in whole school themed days and weeks to support causes and develop awareness of others: DLD day, Red nose day, Children in need and anti-bullying week. 
• Restorative practice when disagreements occur: What happened? What were you thinking at the time? What have your thoughts been since the incident? Who has been affect and why? What do you need to do now to make things right?