British Values and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development
Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Development
Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development underpins everything we do! With our unique context, school could not function without effective SMSC development. Our motto is ‘One World, One School’.
This has been embedded for quite some time. In 2016, Ofsted recognised that: “The school’s values, which underpin the curriculum, teach pupils lifelong learning skills and promote strong SMSC development… The well-established ‘One World, One School’ ethos ensures that pupils are taught to respect and be tolerant of other faiths and cultures...The school is a calm, harmonious place where pupils flourish and become increasingly mature”.
Implementation: How do we promote SMSC?
- Staff are role models- our team is representative of our diverse school community
- We reinforce the importance of a cohesive, harmonious, law-abiding school through our daily routines, learning environment, and through special events:
- SMSC assemblies focusing on a range of key topics such as conflict resolution, inspirational people, environmental issues, human rights etc.
- The environment: word wall, reward banners, babushka boxes, theme of ‘Under the Same Sky’ by Britta Trentrop (starting in Nursery and threaded through school), themes of respect, tolerance and understanding displayed around school through Talk Matters and
- We teach pupils about citizenship, and the importance of being a good school member and a good British citizen:
- School Parliament (democratic processes)
- ‘Price of Progress’ environmental projects
- Recycling in school
- Poetry book (tolerance, respect and understanding)
- We give pupils the opportunity to explore different values, beliefs, and cultures through a variety of approaches, including discussion, debate and performance, in order to gain understanding
- We extend pupils’ cultural awareness through theatre, museum, gallery visits and visiting exhibitions and artists
- Voyagers book- experiences, exploration, journey
- Northern ballet workshops
- Shakespeare project
British values
We actively promote British values and challenge pupils, staff or parents who express opinions contrary to fundamental British values, including ‘extremist’ views.
Below are some examples of how we promote British values:
Being Part of Britain
As a school, we value and celebrate our extremely diverse heritages and what it means to be part of British Society. Throughout the year we celebrate traditions such as Harvest Festival, Remembrance Sunday, Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Eid, Vaisakhi and Hanukkah. At Christmas, the Nativity is performed by all the children in KS1 and Early Years and Year 4 sing carols in the community. Many of our children visit the pantomime and traditional parties are held to celebrate the season.
In addition, we also value and celebrate national events including Remembrance Day, the Queen’s Birthday etc. Furthermore, children learn about being part of Britain from different perspectives. Children learn about being part of Britain through the Geography curriculum (e.g. human and physical aspects of Britain). The programme of study for History also focuses on Britain as the children learn about World War 2, the Victorians, Roman Britain and local history pertinent to Yorkshire.
Through their topic work, children learn about historically significant and/or inspirational Britons (e.g Florence Nightingale (Y1), Guy Fawkes (Y1), James Cook (Y2), Dr Barnardo (Y4), David Attenborough (Y6)).
Democracy
Children, parents and staff have many opportunities for their voices to be heard at Hugh Gaitskell Primary School- democracy is a core value. An obvious example is our School Parliament representatives, Head Boys and Girls- the election of whom reflect the British electoral system and demonstrates democracy in action. Candidates write manifestos, make speeches, pupils consider characteristics important for an elected representative. A ‘Polling Station’ is set up and the representatives are duly elected from Years 1 – 6. They meet regularly to discuss issues raised by the different classes; have access to funding and genuinely affect change within the school. the School Parliament reps wear badges to help to distinguish them. They are involved in all large school developments and regularly meet with the Headteacher to share their plans / concerns.
The House System was launched in October 2019 to increase a sense of belonging amongst the children, the camaraderie and motivation to work together to succeed. Once again, a democratic system was employed to select the House Captains who feed back to their peers every week in assemblies. A number of different competitions and events have been organised to encourage Houses to engage more fully in the life of the school.
The school supports several charities, throughout the year, and plan fundraising events to raise money. E.g. Hughies Homeless Outreach Kitchen, Oxfam, Jeans for Genes, Comic Relief, Leeds Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, Cancer Research and Children in Need. This is a very important part of the ethos at Hugh Gaitskell Primary.
We are an extremely nurturing school- pupils are 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. We encourage pupils to take ownership of not only their school but also of their own learning and progress.
In recent years, our Year 6 pupils have applied to be the Children’s Mayor in Leeds and one pupil reached the final stages. This child produced a manifesto that was circulated to all schools. He also attended a meeting in the council chambers .
Rules and Laws
The importance of rules and laws, whether they govern our school or our country, are referred to and reinforced often, through weekly SMSC/ British Values assemblies. At the start of the school year, each class discusses and sets its own agreed rules (class charter), a set of principles that are clearly understood by all and seen to be necessary to ensure that every class member is able to learn in a safe and ordered environment.
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 are broken. These values are reinforced in different ways:
- Visits from authorities such as the police and fire service
- During Religious Education, when rules for particular faiths are considered
- During other aspects of the curriculum, where there is respect and appreciation for different rules – in a sports lesson, for example.
They are reinforced and modelled by School Parliament Representatives and House Captains who can lose their positions if they are unable to set a positive example to their peers.
Children who are particularly good role models and highlight the ethos of school in their actions receive Hugh Gaitskell Primary postcards in which the Headteacher recognises their huge contribution to the school.
Individual Liberty
In addition to the above, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment and empowering education, we provide boundaries for our young pupils to make choices safely; for example:
- Choices about what learning challenge or activity they undertake
- Choices about how they record their learning
- Participation in competitions both internal and external including mathematics TT Rock Star challenges and sporting opportunities
- Choices regarding their participation in extra-curricular activities
- Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are taught how to exercise these safely, through RP and the curriculum for PSHE.
Mutual Respect and Tolerance
The fundamental British Values underpin everything we do! With our unique context, school could not function without a focus on these. Our motto is ‘One World, One School’.
This has been embedded for quite some time. In 2016, Ofsted recognised that: “he well-established ‘One World, One School’ ethos ensures that pupils are taught to respect and be tolerant of other faiths and cultures...The school is a calm, harmonious place where pupils flourish and become increasingly mature”.
As a school, we are proud to promote and celebrate our different backgrounds and beliefs. Mutual respect is at the heart of our values and ethos. Our pupils know and understand that they are expected to show respect to everyone, whatever differences they may have. They are also taught to respect the school environment and the world around them. Children learn that their behaviour choices have an effect on school and society and that they must be equipped with the skills to make the right choices.
Pupils’ understanding and respect for different faiths and beliefs are as developed through aspects of the curriculum including:
- Religious Education
- PSHE
- Assemblies
- The hidden curriculum
In addition to assemblies with a focus on different cultural celebrations, the school are involved in ‘Culture Week’, ‘European Day of Languages’ and ‘Religious Education Celebration Week’ and children visit diverse places of religious worship.
All adults model the appropriate behaviour and the school challenges anyone at any level who is intolerant, disrespectful or behaves in a way which is contrary to the ethos of Hugh Gaitskell Primary and the Headteacher’s ‘Non-neogtiables’. The school’s ethos is shared with parents / carers through twice monthly Headteacher’s newsletters, letters from staff and assemblies.