Promoting British Values at St. Mary's      

The DfE have recently reinforced the need "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".

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values have been reiterated by the Prime Minister (2014). At St. Mary's these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways: 

Democracy

Democratic processes are embedded in the way we work at St. Mary's. Each class elects a Class Councillor who represents them on the School Council.

At Class Council meetings any concerns are passed on to their representative who brings them to School Council meetings.

Pupils views are sought in many ways such as surveys, pupil interviews, through collective worship and also in deciding their class identities at the beginning of the year and drawing up their class rules.

The Rule of Law

The importance of Laws or rules is reinforced in many ways. The class identities agreed with each class at the start of the school year are linked to their own class 'manifesto' by which they as a group choose to abide.

The wider school 'Golden Rules' apply to all and are a clearly understood framework for the way we all conduct ourselves.

The need for rules is often discussed in collective worship and through topic work. Visits from services such the Police and the Fire Service are regularly arranged.

Individual Liberty

At St. Mary's our pastoral policies such as the Behaviour Policy, Anti-Bullying Policy and Racial Equality Policy ensure that all children can learn in a safe environment. Children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and to know how to keep themselves safe through, for example, Sex and Relationships education, E. safety education and P.S.H.E.

We work with agencies such as Childline, Greater Manchester Police, the Health Service and many more. As an accredited 'Healthy School' we are committed to ensuring that our children know how to keep themselves healthy and fit in order to fully enjoy their lives now and in adulthood

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths & Beliefs

At St. Mary's we achieve this through developing every child's awareness of their place in a culturally diverse society. We want our children to understand the wider community they live in as well as the global community and how they can contribute to both and make a difference.

We work whenever we can with different groups and agencies to give our children access to different views. Our work with our local High School on developing Global Links, our International School status which we hope to update in the near future and our work in RE and PSHE all reinforce and broaden our children's knowledge and understanding.