Preparing for the Wider World

British Values

At Bishop Perrin School we seek “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.” (DfE 2014)

Our values support all children, staff, governors and the wider school community to develop effective relationships throughout the school, and provide the basis for our behaviour policy and PSHE curriculum. We use the values to ensure everyone in the school benefits from high quality spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Bishop Perrin School’s spiritual values are: friendship, endurance, peace, forgiveness, reverence, service and justice.

Each year group has their own value and we also have one whole school value which changes on a yearly basis. These values are displayed around the school, referred to in daily collective worship and embedded in our daily life at school.

Promoting Democracy at Bishop Perrin School

Democracy is promoted and embedded within the school. Pupils 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. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through pupil conferences and questionnaires, collective worship evaluations and feedback. We encourage a respect for democracy by modelling the voting process in everyday school life where appropriate, such as elections for school council and 'Green Team', which are chosen solely based on pupil votes. Each teacher has different ways in which the pupils make their voices heard in the classroom e.g. through circle time, discussions and debates. We have visits and assemblies led by local politicians as well as our local MP.

Promoting the Rule of Law at Bishop Perrin School

The importance of rules and laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced, particularly during collective worship, PSHE and theme work. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws; that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws and rules are broken. We have visits from the local police to further promote and educate in this area.

Within the school’s behaviour policy we have developed the “Bishop Perrin 5 Bs” which has created a framework to help and support children make good decisions and choices in the way they behave in our school community. The Bishop Perrin 5 Bs are:

Be welcoming and respectful

Be responsible and independent

Be a friend and a role model

Be kind, caring and well-mannered

Be safe and honest

When a child has not followed the expectations of the 5 Bs we use the “3 Fs” as a template to address what has happened. Staff use the 3 Fs as follows:

Facts-what has happened and how have the 5 Bs not been followed?

Feelings-how has the behaviour of not following the 5 Bs made those involved feel? Have other people’s feelings been hurt?

Future-what can be done in the future to avoid the same situation happening again and what can be done to repair hurt feelings?

The Bishop Perrin 5 Bs are on display in all the classrooms and around the school and are referred to regularly by staff to help children make good choices and treat others the way they would like to be treated themselves. Children are taught that there are consequences to not following the 5 Bs and where the 5 Bs have not been followed, opportunities to reflect on how this has impacted on other people in the school community.

Promoting Individual Liberty at Bishop Perrin School

Children are taught to be independent and resilient at Bishop Perrin School. They are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school, we educate and provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. Children often choose their own learning partners, they self-select resources in lessons and choose their own challenges in their work. Children are frequently given the freedom of expression in their work (e.g. Science representation of results). Staff actively challenge social stereotypes when planning resources, trips and visitors.

Promoting Mutual Respect at Bishop Perrin School

Our core spiritual values promote respect towards others and love for all. Children are rewarded, through our rewards system, for practising these characteristics. The opinions of others are discussed and any difference of opinion is open and frank in class debates about current issues. Through celebrating the achievement of others in class and in collective worship, children develop a respect for those with interests and skills in other fields.

Children are actively encouraged to develop empathy and forgiveness through focussed PSHE lessons and nurture groups. Staff frequently address friendship or behaviour issues specific to their class through well-structured circle time activities.

Tolerance of and respect for those of all faiths, no faith, cultures and lifestyles

As a Church of England school, we include representations of faiths and cultures from around the world in through careful consideration of the content of our wider curriculum and through the concepts explored through collective worship.

 

School Council

Each class from Year 2 to Year 6 has 2 school council representatives. All the school council representatives are voted for by their class members. This is one of the many ways that we demonstrate the British value of democracy in school.

School council members gather the views of their class and meet regularly to discuss ways to improve the school. Some projects they have worked on in the past include improvements to the playground and redesigning the quiet area. School council members have been involved in training the rest of the school about how to use the playground equipment safely. They have even been in charge of organising votes to select the film for School Association film nights!

School council is a brilliant way for children to be involved in decisions that affect them and they act as the pupil voice for their peers. Members are different every year so there are plenty of opportunities for all children to have a go and take part in representing the school.

Would you like to be in school council? What qualities do you think a good school councillor needs to have?

 

Green Team

Each class from Year 3 to Year 6 has 2 Green Team representatives. They meet on a Wednesday lunchtime and discuss ways to improve the school environment. They encourage everybody in school to reduce waste, recycle and save energy.

 

Playground Pals

Our junior children volunteer to be a Playground Pal and make the commitment to help encourage happy and sociable playtimes. They help to strengthen friendships, organise games and ensure no-one feels alone or left out.

 

Anti-bullying Ambassadors

Our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors were trained by the Diana Award and are in Years 3-6. These children are on hand on the playground for children in all year groups to go to if they have a problem and feel that they are being bullied. They encourage the whole school to be upstanders, not bystanders, to bullying behaviour and have provided training to the whole school on what bullying behaviour is.