The requirement to promote British values In June 2014, the then secretary of state for education, Michael Gove, announced that schools would be required to promote British values from September 2014. The move followed concerns about a perceived promotion of strict Islamist values in some schools in Birmingham

Dfe Document: Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools Departmental advice for maintained schools November 2014 The main points of this advice are to make clear: • that maintained schools should promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development; • what is expected of schools in promoting fundamental British values; and • how this aligns with schools’ duty to promote SMSC. Through ensuring pupils’ SMSC development, schools can also demonstrate they are actively promoting fundamental British values. The guidance has examples of actions that schools can take. This includes: •Ensuring that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and demonstrating how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes such as a school council whose members are voted for by the pupils •Using teaching resources from a wide variety of sources to help pupils understand a range of faiths

What British Values IS NOT

Examples of actions that a school can take • include in suitable parts of the curriculum, as appropriate for the age of pupils, material on the strengths, advantages and disadvantages of democracy, and how democracy and the law works in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries; • ensure that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and demonstrate how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes such as a school council whose members are voted for by the pupils; • use opportunities such as general or local elections to hold mock elections to promote fundamental British values and provide pupils with the opportunity to learn how to argue and defend points of view; • use teaching resources from a wide variety of sources to help pupils understand a range of faiths, and • consider the role of extra-curricular activity, including any run directly by pupils, in promoting fundamental British values.

Ideas to promote BV in Sutton Manor Primary

In your year groups – think about what you already do during the year that already ticks some British Values boxes. What else could you add either as a year group or whole school to enhance our SMSC/ British Values work in school?

What next? Teachers need to be aware of when they are planning for/ teaching aspects of SMSC / British Values – it’s already there! All staff working in school need to provide positive role models and exploit opportunities to promote SMSC / BV SMSC Policy to include British Values Monitoring of SMSC in planning/ lessons/ work in books Collecting evidence in a central ‘file.’ Evidence to include staff / Gov feedback, lesson plans, photos, children’s work, video clips, minutes from meetings, school council involvement………

Schools ‘already promote British values’ Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), is quoted by the BBC as saying: For the vast majority of schools, this will make no difference to what they're doing, because they're already engaged in this agenda. Classroom teachers will continue to do what they always have done, which is developing young people to work together as a community, whether that's as a teaching group or a school.