British Values

Schools have a duty 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.'

At Upton St James, British Values run through everything we do. We refer to the British values with the children explicitly in worship and PSHE and we also have a Picture News worship once a week, which covers at least one British Value through class discussion around a current issue in the media. 

Democracy

Pupils are taught that we live in a democratic country and that they have a right to have their voices heard. This is largely achieved through a pupil elected school council where class representatives raise issues and suggest ideas for improvement and then outcomes are shared with the whole school as a result of democratic processes. Pupil are given additional opportunities, such as being voted in by the school to speak at the Torbay Parliament about local and global issues.

Rule of Law
School rules are important. Teachers begin each new year by revising the good to be green, great to be gold behaviour system. In this way, every child knows the standard of behaviour that we expect in our school. The school manages behaviour very positively and our main principle is that whenever possible intervention should be on the basis of reward rather than punishment. We use a range of rewards, such as praise, team points and green time. There are sanctions within our relational behaviour policy to be used where necessary.
 

Individual Liberty
We promote the freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs in a safe environment. We teach children to take responsibility for their behaviour. They are supported to understand that they have rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely.  They are supported to become as independent as possible with their learning and take part in courageous advocacy projects during the year: locally, nationally and globally.

Mutual Respect
It is a primary aim of our school that every member of the school community feels valued and respected, and that each person is treated fairly and well. Pupils are taught to show empathy and understanding of people from different backgrounds. Although we are a CofE school, through our RW curriculum we provide regular opportunities for children to learn about different cultures and beliefs and reinforce messages of tolerance and respect. This is key to enabling our pupils understand and respect different values different from their own.

Tolerance of those with different faiths or beliefs
At Upton St James, we educate pupils from a range of backgrounds from many different places. We are a caring community, whose values are built on Christian values of mutual trust and respect for all. We aim to promote an environment where everyone feels happy, safe and secure. We promote good relationships, so that people can work together with the common purpose of helping everyone to learn. Every member of the school community behaves in a considerate way towards others. We treat all children equally and aim to help children to grow in a safe and secure environment, and to become positive, responsible and increasingly independent members of the school community. Our PHSE curriculum equips the pupils to negotiate, share and co-operate. Our RW curriculum teaches the pupils about the beliefs of many religions.