The Department of Education has 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.' At Langrish these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy

Article 12: Children have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account.

Democracy is evident within the school in the following ways:

• Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Parliament, council members are elected annually by their peers to form different committees and meeting minutes shared our through school blog
• Virtual meeting between the School Parliament and a Member of the Lords
• House Captains are elected annually by their teams following hustings
• Some monthly citizenship awards are selected through peer nominations and subsequent votes
• Pupils are encouraged to volunteer for different roles which benefit the school community such as: litter pickers, Play Leaders and librarians
• Children are regularly consulted as to the content and approach to their learning and the extra-curricular clubs they would like access to
• As a school we consider national and international events, such as major elections and local council issues

 

(left) Year 6 campaign leaflets and extracts from their manifestos created during a PSHE lesson on democracy

 

 

 

 

• A visitor from the UK Parliament outreach team delivered an assembly to KS2 explaining how British democracy works and answering the children's questions

The Rule of Law

Article 19: Governments should ensure that children are properly cared for, and protect them from violence, abuse and neglect by their parents, or anyone else who looks after them.

The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. This is further supported by:

• Units of World Faith and Philosophy cover related concepts 
• Our work as an Advocate School for Rights Respecting education
• Use of Reflection Sheets to encourage children's accountability for their actions
• Visits from outside speakers such as: Police Community Support Officer
• Half-termly stories are mapped to the teaching of our Protected Characteristics from the Equality Act
• PSHE units reference specific laws affecting them i.e. age of criminal responsibility, carrying controlled items

Individual Liberty

Article 15: Children have the right to meet together and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.

Article 31: All children have a right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of activities.

Within school, pupils 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 young pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment:

• Children are encouraged to take opportunities to follow their interests in sport, performing and creative arts facilitated by a wide range of extra-curricular clubs
• All children are involved in risk assessments for their trips and specific units of work
• Each year group reflects their e- safety learning through their annual Internet Safety Charter
• Children regularly select how they wish to present their learning
• The Year R curriculum reflects the children's interests in a safe outdoor learning environment
• Children's achievements outside school are celebrated through our monthly newsletter
• Cultural afternoon provides an opportunity for children to celebrate their own cultures with their peers
• Identity is celebrated through learning about the protected characteristics and referencing these as they arise

Mutual Respect

Article 2: The convention applies to everyone whatever their race, religion, abilities, whatever they think or say and whatever type of family they come from.

Article 30: Children have a right to learn and use the language and customs of their families, whether these are shared by the majority of people in the country or not.

Our school ethos and rights respecting behaviour policy revolve around Core Values such as ‘Respect, friendship and co-operation’, and pupils have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what this means and how it is shown.

• Children feel comfortable to voice their opinions in debates
• The class Rights Respecting Charters, created by the children, are reinforced by everyone using a common language to discuss other people's rights
• The children have created their own version of the Anti-bullying Policy and the Internet Usage Policy to reflect the way in which they wish all parties to be treated with respect
• Positive role models nurture strong, respectful relationships between all members of the school community

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

Article 14: Children have the right to think and believe what they want, and to practise their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights. Parents should guide their children on these matters.

This is achieved through enhancing pupils understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity through:

• Units of work which highlight the different traditions of the world
• Theme days and celebrations which encompass World Religions such as Chinese New Year
• Promotion of the children's own faiths and perspectives
• Assemblies and workshops which celebrate and teach diversity, tolerance and understanding
• Resources which feature a range of traditions, for example books in the library and PowerPoints used in lessons
• Golden threads (concepts) promoted across all faiths to highlight similarities

Celebrating Traditions and Values

At Langrish, we celebrate the traditions and customs of all of our pupils; we also celebrate British traditions and customs by observing fundamentally British occasions such as St George's Day, Harvest, events linked to the British monarchy and remembrance events.

Remembrance

Every year it is the responsibility of our Year 6 pupils to write and lead the Remembrance Assembly. They create poetry for the occasion as the culmination of their English unit and decide how to perform this for the greatest impact. Those not sharing poems begin the assembly by explaining the significance of the day to our younger pupils.

Harvest Time

After our Harvest Festival, lead beautifully by our Year 1 children, our pupils enjoyed loading their donations into bags and sending them off to our local food bank. 

We received the following message of thanks:

With regards to your amazing Harvest donations, the committee, volunteers and I wish to wholeheartedly thank the school staff, pupils, parents and all involved in your Harvest Festival celebrations. This donation makes such a huge difference to our stock levels. The food bank's help to assist those in need is increasing and I do not think this is going to change any time soon, so all the support you give is invaluable.

---

King Charles III's Coronation.

Listen to our amazing performance of the Coronation Song! 

Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee

Each class looked at chronology and carried out a range of activities.

We finished the week with a celebratory picnic and all sang the National Anthem.