British Values

The Government emphasises that schools must teach children the key ‘British Values’ within school in order to ensure that children leave school prepared for life in modern Britain.

The five British Values are:

• Democracy
• The Rule of Law
• Individual Liberty
• Mutual Respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

Democracy

At St Laurence, the principle of democracy is a very important one. Democracy processes are used for important decisions within our school, for example, elections are held for school council positions. We also explore this through our curriculum particularly in PSHE.

The Rule of Law

The importance of laws and rules are constantly being reinforced at St Laurence. Throughout the curriculum, we discuss the importance of laws and the reasons why we have them.  All of our children are aware of the high expectations of behaviour in and around school. We encourage children to follow our rules:

• Ready
• Respectful
• Safe

Individual Liberty

From the moment the children enter into Year 3, we actively encourage children to become more independent in order to help them prepare for the wider world. We aim to create a safe, supportive environment for the children which encourages independence, also linking to the decisions they make.

Mutual Respect

Respect is an extremely important part of our school and is one of our school values too. All members of staff model excellent mutual respect and reflect the importance of this to the children through what we teach and the learning environment created. Children are regularly reminded of the importance of respect during lessons, collective worship and through class discussion. Mutual respect is embraced throughout the curriculum by providing the opportunity for children to express their views in a safe environment.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

As a Christian school, we understand the importance of teaching our children that we must tolerate different faiths and beliefs in order to live in a peaceful society. Our RE lessons provide a broad and balanced curriculum, focusing on a range of faiths, religions and cultures. This is achieved through learning about worldviews other than Christianity for two RE units per year. Children explore the worldview in detail and visit either a gurdwara, mandir, synagogue or mosque. Children also visit places of worship for a variety of Christian denominations.