Promotion of British values

At Walton Oak we recognise not only the importance of allowing children to flourish academically but we also embrace our wider role in preparing them for life. Part of our role in that preparation is ensuring that we promote and reinforce British values within our community.

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and considered them to be democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. These values are central to culture and community at Walton Oak.

The examples that follow, far from being an exhaustive list, serve only as indicators of our approach to embedding British values within our school.

Democracy

At Walton Oak the principle of democracy is consistently reinforced, with the democratic process being employed for important decisions within the school community, such as a referendum being held to bring about class name changes.  Our Pupil Parliament, elected by their peers, meet regularly to agree actions to make the school a better place.  The principle of democracy is explored as a theme for whole school assemblies and we conduct annual trips to the Palace of Westminster to encourage children to discover more across a range of themes such as law making and principles of protest and debate.

The rule of law

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.  Children are taught the value and reasons behind laws (and rules) and that they govern and protect us.  Our PSHCE curriculum and assembly cycle reinforce the responsibilities that that we share as part of this and encourage children to consider the consequences when laws or rules are broken.

Individual liberty

Within a safe, secure and supportive environment, children at Walton oak are encouraged to make independent choices.  Children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms:  They receive advice about how to exercise these safely through our exploration of E-Safety in Computing and class-based activities.

Mutual respect

Respect is one of our school WOW values and is modelled by students and staff alike.  The school promotes respect for others through weekly ‘Aspire’ assemblies and rewards children for demonstrating this, or any one of our school values, in a variety of ways.  In line with our commitment to democracy, children at Walton Oak are always able to voice their opinions and we foster an environment where students are safe to disagree with each other, developing effective language and behaviour for this. Mutual respect is embraced throughout the curriculum from the concept of ‘fair play’ in PE to a number of ‘buddy’ programmes across the school.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

At Walton Oak, we help children understand their place in a culturally diverse society and actively seek out opportunities for them to experience diversity.  Children enjoy a series of visits from speakers who share their experience of faith.  Similarly, we run an annual “world day” event where parents are invited to run a stall that educates children about the language, food, belief systems and wider culture of their country of origin. 

Should you feel that the school is not meeting this requirement, you should contact the school office and request to express your concerns with the Headteacher.  Likewise, if you feel that anyone working at the school is undermining these values you should report this to the Headteacher.