British Values
Little Kingshill Combined School is proud to recognise and embrace the multi-cultural, multi-faith and ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom. Our ethos promotes our pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development and our curriculum supports our British values, which are:
- Democracy
- The Rule of Law
- Individual Liberty
- Mutual Respect
- Tolerance
The Department For Education emphasises that schools are required to ensure that key British Values are taught in all UK schools. The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, stating that there is a 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 Little Kingshill, we nurture our pupils to allow them to grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant adults, who make a positive difference to British society and to the wider world. We encourage our pupils to be creative, unique, open-minded and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and of others in our school, our local community and the wider world.
Democracy
All pupils are encouraged to debate topics of interest, express their views and make a meaningful contribution to the running of the school on matters that directly involve pupils. The School Council and Eco council are democratically elected annually, meet regularly and continue to shape and encourage the school’s core values. School councillors form a key part of the recruitment process of new staff members.
Our house groups are led by two house captains from Year 6, again selected through an election. Each house group nominates an annual charity and they work to raise funds throughout the year. We have seen lots of fun events take place, including crazy hair day, Christmas jumper day, art competitions and much more! We also nominate an annual school charity which we raise money for through donations at our festive activities.
Pupils also have the opportunity to have their voices heard through annual pupil questionnaires.
Our school behaviour reflects our positive mentality in promoting good behaviour throughout our school. We operate a reflection policy, to review any inappropriate behaviour and give children the chance to consider how they would change their behaviour in the future. We regularly reward pupils with Head Teacher awards which are openly celebrated in the school’s weekly newsletter, as well as bi-weekly merit awards for every class. We also award termly certificates for excellence which are presented in our aptly named excellence assemblies. Extra curricular achievements are celebrated in the weekly newsletter, as well as in assemblies and children are encouraged to discuss these achievements in their classes.
Rule Of Law
On admission to Little Kingshill, we ask every family to sign our home school agreement which clearly defines our school rules. These are regularly discussed within classes and understood by pupils, to establish positive expectations which are reinforced regularly. Opportunities are sought frequently to praise positive choices. Pupils modelling behaviour consistent with the schools high expectations are recognised and used as role models to others. In addition, at the beginning of each new academic year, every class works together to create a set of classroom rules.
Through assemblies and the schools PSHE/Citizenship curriculum, pupils develop an understanding of law and fairness appropriate to their age. Pupils are always helped to distinguish right from wrong, in the classroom, during assemblies and on the playground.
The Behaviour and Anti-Bullying policies set out a zero-tolerance baseline for any form of aggression, abuse or violence, which extends to pupils, staff, parents and carers.
We operate a buddy scheme where every Reception pupil is matched to a Year 6 pupil, while this serves to settle the Reception class in quickly, it also encourages pupils to discuss and demonstrate our expected standards.
We participate in a termly walk to school week, which complements our daily Park and Stride initiative. Together with our Bikeability offering to Year 6 and our Year 3 trip to Hazard Alley, Safety Centre we are constantly providing our families with the opportunity to observe the laws of the road!
We have a close relationship with our PCSOs who visit regularly and take an active role in discussions with the pupils. Our Year 6 class also have the opportunity to visit the Crown Court and take part in a role play exercise, while Reception visit the local fire station to learn the rules of the emergency services.
Individual Liberty
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged and given the freedom to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. This is encouraged on a daily basis through their ability to select their own lunch choices from Reception upwards. Children are also invited to sign up for their choice of extra-curricular clubs and are also frequently given choice regarding homework while being encouraged to select something that will challenge them.
We encourage pupils to work with a Growth mindset, which supports the pupils in terms of expressing their thoughts and feelings in a safe environment. Pupils are supported to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence and are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour.
Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our e-safety teaching and PSHE lessons.
Pupils have key roles and responsibilities in school, such as monitors for various tasks about the classroom and whole school, house captains, recycling monitors, office assistants, librarians, Junior Road Safety Officers and Positive Play leaders.
Pupils are valued for their differences and we offer a wide a variety of extra-curricular clubs to support and encourage this. We strive to enable pupils to try new things, develop new skills and practise existing ones.
Care is taken to provide equal opportunities for all, with gender stereotypes being challenged wherever possible. Vulnerable pupils are protected and stereotypes challenged. A strong anti-bullying culture is embedded in the school and any form of bullying is challenged and addressed. The school operates a robust system of logging incidents.
Mutual Respect and Tolerance of Those with Different Faiths and Beliefs
The class rules which are drawn up at the beginning of each academic year, set clear expectations of respectful conduct and good learning behaviour. This is all outlined in the Behaviour Policy.
Our PSHE and RE curriculums offer pupils the opportunity to discuss differences between people, such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexuality and differences of family situations. We work hard to ensure pupils value and respect these and see the positive in every individual. Our regular merit assemblies help everyone to feel valued and have their strengths recognised by others.
A consistent behaviour policy is in place to encourage pupils to take responsibility, with support when needed, to resolve conflict and repair relationships.
Little Kingshill Combined School is a member of the Holmer Green Senior School Partnership which allows all pupils at our school to participate in sports events, to experience competitive events and have an opportunity to put into practice both their sporting skills and their sportsmanship.
Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudiced-based bullying have been supported by subsequent learning in RE and PSHE.
We offer a culturally rich and diverse curriculum in which all major religions are studied and respected. Global dimension work is embedded in many of our curriculum topics. Links and visits are promoted with local faith communities and places of worship and we celebrate a range of cultural events including Chinese New Year, Christmas, Diwali, Remembrance Day and Eid to name a few.
We take every opportunity to support causes, both domestic and international, such as the Rotary shoebox appeal.