British Values at St. Mary's

In accordance with The Department for Education we aim to actively promote British values in schools to ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law.

The Key Values are:

• democracy
• rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect
• tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

Our Vision and Aims

At St Mary's we promote British Values as set out in the PREVENT strategy 2014 by:-

• enabling our children to develop their self-knowledge, self esteem and self confidence
• enabling our children to develop right from wrong and to respect civil and criminal law of England
• encouraging our children to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely
• enabling our children to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England
• furthering tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling our children to acquire and  an appreciation for and respect for their own and other cultures
• encouraging respect for other people, and
• encouraging respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England. 
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At St. Mary's we want our children to have a voice, respect and understand the law, explore their own personal, social and cultural identity and celebrate, respect and value the identities of others. 

Using 'Picture News' to support British Values at St. Mary's

We use 'Picture News' weekly in school, as a stimulus for assembly and discussion about current affairs, with direct links to British Values.

Picture News provides a different focus each week, in the form of a powerful image and 'Big Question'. These form the basis for whole-school assembly & class discussion, where children are encouraged to consider, discuss and express their own ideas around these issues.