Prevent, British Values and Equalities
What what does Prevent mean?
The Prevent Strategy 2011 aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism.
click here for our guide: Radicalisation and Preventing Extremism
What is British Values and what does it mean?
At Drighlington Primary School, we actively promote a culture of mutual respect and tolerance, democracy, the rule of law, equal opportunities and freedom. British Values permeate throughout the school curriculum and support the development of the whole child. Furthermore, we are committed to serving our community. At our school we believe that at the heart of a modern, ever changing community is the acceptance of key British Values. We feel it is our responsibility to promote these and in doing so, our learners will be able to grow as individuals and citizens in the community and country in which they live. The school believes that this is something not only achieved through the curriculum but through the school’s core values and ethos as well as its provision for pupils beyond formal lessons.
We take opportunities to actively promote British Values through our assemblies and whole school systems and structures such as electing and running a successful School Council. Each week the whole school has a focus on a shared “Care, think and learn” statement, and these often consider British Values. We also actively promote British Values through ensuring our curriculum planning and delivery includes opportunities for exploration of the values. Actively promoting British Values also means challenging pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.
Democracy
The principle of democracy is consistently being reinforced at Drighlington Primary School with democratic processes being used for important decisions within the school community. Children across the school are involved in lots of decisions including; choosing what to make for their class enterprise projects and deciding what to spend their money on. Council and Pupil Questionnaires. School Council representatives are elected by their peers and have a responsibility to report back to the rest of their class. The School Council have regular meetings and children are encouraged to contribute ideas. There is a fair and consistent Behaviour Policy with agreed rewards and sanctions. The principle of democracy is also explored in the History and RE curriculum as well as in PSHE lessons and assemblies.
The Rule of Law
The importance of Laws that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced, as well as when dealing with behaviour. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, their responsibilities and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the Police are a regular part of our calendar and help reinforce this message. Our Anti Bullying Quality Mark helps encourage our whole school to develop effective strategies to challenge bullying and helps children to understand how to behave towards each other and how to be safe. The Behaviour Policy is shared with all staff and all classrooms display the school rules. Children are given many opportunities to reflect on their behaviour and learning throughout the school day.
Individual Liberty
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, through provision of a safe environment and growth mind-set curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms. We teach how to exercise these rights safely, for example through our ESafety and PSHE lessons. Pupils are further empowered through having a school council. Whether it be through choice of challenge, or of participation in our extra -curricular clubs, pupils are given the freedom to make choices. These are all age related experiences. Children participate in whole school Remembrance Day assemblies. We also encourage participation in charitable events e.g. Children in Need, Sport Relief and Comic Relief.
Mutual Respect
Respect is a strong part of Drighlington Primary School and our aims and objectives. Pupils learn that their behaviour has an effect on their own rights and those of others. In class, children explore how our behaviours affect others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect and this is reiterated through our teaching and learning environment. Mutual respect is embraced throughout the curriculum by providing the opportunity for pupils to express their views in a safe environment. Positive relationships are encouraged and modelled throughout the school. Our Religious Education scheme of learning enables the children to learn not only knowledge, but also develop an understanding of the world of religion and how beliefs impact on daily lives. This helps develop tolerance and mutual respect for religious viewpoints. Within PE and sport sessions, ‘fair play’ is promoted. We have also focused on British Values through a whole school British Food week, encouraging children and families to vote for menu selections.
Tolerance of Those with Different Faiths and Beliefs
This is achieved through enhancing pupil’s understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE.
What do we mean by the word equalities?
Drighlington Primary School is committed to providing an environment that enables full curriculum access that values and includes all pupils, staff, parents and visitors regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs. We are committed to taking positive action in the spirit of the Equality Act 2010 with regard to disability and to developing a culture of inclusion, support and awareness within the school.
Our school is committed to equality both as an employer and an education provider:
- We do our best to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and with respect.
- We actively ensure sure that our school is a safe, secure and stimulating place for everyone.
- We recognise that people have different needs, and we understand that treating people equally does not always involve treating them all exactly the same.
- We recognise that for some pupils extra support is needed to help them to achieve and be successful.
- We always ensure that people from different groups are consulted and involved in our decisions, for example through talking to pupils and parents/carers, staff and through School Council.
- We actively aim to make sure that no-one experiences harassment, less favourable treatment or discrimination because of their age; any disability they may have; their ethnicity , national origin; their gender; their gender identity or reassignment; their marital or civil partnership status; being pregnant or having recently had a baby; their religion or beliefs; their sexual identity and orientation.
Equality Objectives
We know that we need to keep revisiting the concept of equalities in our whole school messages, year group lessons and our messages to parents and the wider community. We will do this be adding regular statements to our whole school Care, Think and Learn strategy, by ensuring that all teachers have the skills and knowledge to teach concepts appropriate to their year group and by maintaining our website information page. Our school leaders will ensure that every possible concept of equalities is understood by all and the values in which we believe underpin all that we do. Further to this, we will consult with all parties to ensure that we maintain high standard and fair approaches.
The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/149 replaced all existing equality legislation, including the Disability Discrimination Act. The effect of the law is the same as in the past, meaning that “schools cannot unlawfully discriminate against pupils because of sex, race, disability, religion or belief and sexual orientation”. There are protected groups and schools have to ensure that the curriculum is delivered to allow access for all. To protect those people considered to have a disability, reasonable adjustments must be made.
We welcome our general duty under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate discrimination, to advance equality or opportunity and to foster good relations, and our specific duties to publish information every year about our school population; to explain how we have due regard for equality; and to publish equality objectives which show how we plan to tackle particular inequalities, and reduce or remove them.
Eliminating Discrimination
We support the emphasis in the OFSTED framework on the importance of narrowing gaps in achievement which could affect:
- Pupils from certain cultural/ethnic backgrounds and the Traveller Community.
- Pupils who receive Pupil Premium.
- Pupils who are disabled.
- Pupils who have special educational needs /disability /SEND/LAC/EAL.
- Differences in gender achievement.
The Equality Act 2010 requires us to publish information that demonstrates that we have due regard for the need to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
The school has a series of policies that support this Equality Statement.