British Values

British Values at Pinewood 

Pinewood is in Arnold. Arnold is in Nottingham. Nottingham is in England which is in the UK and Great Britain. Like we have a set of core school values, in Britain we have a set of values that we hope to be shared by all. These values guide us to live in a place where everyone feels safe, valued and free to be themselves. At Pinewood Infant School, we develop and promote British Values throughout our school and within our curriculum. 

Promoting Fundamental British Values

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. 

The Key Values are:

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

PROMOTING BRITISH VALUES

The DfE have reinforced the 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 Pinewood Infant School these values reflect our own school vision, values and aims as 'Together we give children the roots to grow and the wings to fly'.

These are our school British Values Ambassadors:

DEMOCRACY

Democracy underpins the values of the school. All children are treated fairly and have an equal right to express their views and be listened to. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council. Members of the School Council and Eco Warriors are elected democratically by their classmates in a ballot which introduces them to the principal of democratic elections.

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. Pupils are taught the reasons behind school rules, taught the importance of observing those rules and what the consequences will be should they forget to follow any of the rules. At the start of the year, each class discusses the school rules and routines. These rules are then signed and displayed in each class. Visits from authorities such as the Police reinforce the message that we all have a responsibility to follow laws and that there are consequences when laws are broken.

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 safely, through provision of a safe environment and empowering education. 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 Policy and SMSC lessons.

MUTUAL RESPECT

Our children thoroughly enjoy lessons and are active learners who display very good behaviour because they understand the right of all children to learn and thrive in an atmosphere of mutual respect. The school promotes respect for others and this is reiterated through our classroom rules as well as our Behaviour Policy. Children take part in discussions during Circle Time when they are expected to treat the opinions and views of others with respect, even if they differ from their own.

TOLERANCE OF THOSE WITH DIFFERENT FAITHS AND BELIEFS

All staff are committed to developing with the children the language needed to express their views, emotions and feelings so that children are able to negotiate with their peers and resolve any disagreements peacefully. We actively seek opportunities to enhance pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society by giving them opportunities to

They experience such diversity through the real life experiences of their peers. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudiced based bullying are being followed and are supported by learning in RE and PSHE.

As a school, we value and celebrate the heritages of everybody at Pinewood. Alongside this we value and celebrate being part of Britain. This means that we celebrate traditions and customs in the course of the year; for example, Harvest Festival during the autumn term and Christmas celebrations.  We also value and celebrate national focuses, e.g. Macmillan Coffee morning and Children in Need.

A tradition in our country is remembering those that have lost their life in war. We have a wonderful display in our school hall of the art work we. We always listen to the Last Post being played on a cornet by Steve in our Remembrance Day Assembly each year.

Mrs McCoulough started the week with an assembly teaching us all about Harvest. Then we worked as a team to collect together this generous Harvest Festival donation which we gave to two local food banks. Thank you to all the parents, carers and staff who took part. 

Thank you to everyone who took part in our Fairtrade Fortnight competition. We know that the producers of these products were given a fair price for their work.