The Department for Education has introduced a statutory duty for schools to promote British Values more actively from September 2014, and to ensure they are taught in schools.

Gunter Primary School is committed to serving its community.  It recognises the multi-cultural, multi-faith and ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom.  It also understands the vital role it has in ensuring that groups or individuals within the school are not subjected to intimidation or radicalisation by those wishing to unduly, or illegally, influence them.

It follows equal opportunities guidance which guarantees that there will be no discrimination against any individual or group, regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, political or financial status, or similar. Gunter Primary School is dedicated to preparing students for their adult life beyond the formal, examined curriculum and ensuring that it promotes and reinforces British values to all its students.

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy.

At Gunter Primary School, the promotion of British Values, along with our own School Values (see our school values) is an intrinsic part of daily school-life and the curriculum.

The five key British Values are:

·         Democracy

·         The rule of law

·         Individual liberty

·         Mutual respect

·         Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

We believe that promoting these fundamental British values, along with our own school values, will help us to ensure our pupils’ become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and leave school fully prepared for life in modern Britain.

By the end of their Gunter Primary School experience pupils will have had the opportunity 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.

Much of our work towards promoting British Values, comes through our daily school routines, and in the positive interactions, which are expected between all members of our school community. 

Time is taken to share our school and classroom expectations and to ensure that everyone understands their rights and responsibilities and how these contribute to making our school a happy and safe place to be. 

Our class and school councils give pupils a voice, which is listened to and impacts upon daily school life. 

Children are encouraged to make their own choices through simple routines such as choosing their own school dinner, deciding which after school club to attend or which school 'Crew' they would like to be involved in.  

Children of faith are encouraged to be proud of their beliefs and share their knowledge, and experiences, as well as their special times. We celebrate the faiths and the origins of all our children.

British values are also introduced, revisited and discussed during whole school and class assemblies and are discretely taught and explored during PSHE lesson. However, all curriculum areas provide a vehicle for furthering understanding of these concepts, for example;

Music: the music curriculum encourages individuality both in terms of children’s opinions about music shared and in the way that it enables them to cultivate individual music tastes

PE: in PE lessons, pupils are encouraged to develop an understanding of the importance of sportsmanship, playing by the rules and how to win and lose fairly

History: history lessons allow pupils to develop an understanding of prejudice, exploring how key events have taken place, why they happened and perhaps most importantly the lessons we can learn from them about the importance of tolerance and mutual respect.

Geography: through the Geography Curriculum, learn more about the countries of the world, including their own.  Children learn about democracy and the impact the decisions made have on specific places.   

RE: during RE pupils learn about aspects of many different faiths, including the laws of the faith and the reasons behind them. Through their work pupils develop an understanding and appreciation of the different religious beliefs within their community.

Science: when working scientifically, pupils are encouraged to make choices about the questions they would like to investigate. They are taught the importance of safety rules and how not following the rules can have undesired consequences 

Maths: in maths lessons pupils are encouraged to take turns and share practical equipment respectfully. During work on shape and space pupils learn about and come to appreciate patterns and shapes, originating from different religions

English: texts from a range of different cultures and faiths are explored through reading lessons and are used as starting points for writing units. Pupils are actively encouraged to peer assess writing and are expected to respond in a positive and respectful manner

Languages: as well as learning another language, pupils are encouraged to learn about and appreciate a variety of aspects of a different culture; geography, food, traditions and beliefs

Art: children are encouraged to express themselves and their ideas freely in art. They are encouraged to discuss their reasons for different choices and to have the confidence to follow their own ideas even if they are different to those around them. They are encouraged to develop an awareness and appreciation of other cultures through learning about artists, and using work from a range of artists as stimuli.

D and T: the children are taught to respect the products and practices of others. They discuss similarities and differences in order to appreciate work of others from different cultures and countries.

Computing: during computing lessons pupils are taught to follow the rules to help keep themselves and others safe online. They learn about the importance of showing respect for themselves and others within their online interactions.