Promotion of British values

At Holland we recognise not only the importance of allowing students to flourish academically but we also embrace our wider role in preparing them for their adult life beyond the formal examined curriculum.

Part of our role in that preparation is ensuring that we promote and reinforce British values to our students.

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. At this school these values are reinforced in a pervasive manner and permeate the school community.

The examples that follow are an indication of some of the many ways we seek to embed British values at this school and should be seen as an indication of our approach rather than an exhaustive list.

Democracy

At Holland the principle of democracy is consistently reinforced, with the democratic process being employed for important decisions within the school community; for instance, amongst other things, holding elections for our House Captains & School Council and deciding as a school community on the half termly ‘Good to Be Green’ rewards. Each class develops their own Class charter with the class teacher.

The principle of democracy is explored in History and Religious Studies as well as in assemblies.

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.

Students are taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when these are broken.

Individual Liberty

Within Holland students are actively encouraged to make independent choices, knowing that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment.

As a school, we educate and provide boundaries for students to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and empowering education.  Students are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and receive advice about how to exercise these safely, for example through our exploration of E-Safety in Computing.

School Values

We have six main values we believe to be most important in our school community. These values were debated with teachers and pupils to ensure all members of the community had a voice. Our values are:

• Kindness
• Honesty
• Respect
• Perseverance
• Positivity
• Responsibility

Kindness is:

• Thinking about how another person may be feeling
• Helping someone who is in need
• Doing something to make the world a nicer place
• Giving – your time, a smile, a helping hand

Honesty is:

• Always telling the truth, never stealing or cheating
• Not hiding the truth about something, being sincere
• Being able to share how you feel, however difficult it may be
• Responding to and growing one’s own conscience

Respect is:

• Respect is knowing we are unique and valuable
• Respect is knowing we are lovable and capable
• Respect is listening to others
• Respect is knowing that others are valuable too
• Respect is treating others as we would like to be treated ourselves

Positivity is:

• Becoming resilient through making mistakes and challenging oneself
• Being in a good place to learn
• Confidence; belief in oneself
• Approaching situations enthusiastically and optimistically

Perseverance is:

• About trying, trying again and trying once more
• Trying it again a little differently
• Trying it again tomorrow
• Trying and asking for help next time
• Trying to find someone who might have done it before
• Trying to find out what is and isn’t working
• About keeping on trying and not giving up!

Responsibility is:

• Responsibility is doing your own fair share of the work
• Responsibility is taking care of things
• Responsibility is taking care of oneself
• Responsibility is taking care of and helping others when they need it

By thinking of these values in our daily lives at school we aim to support our pupils to become responsible citizens who are conscious of their place in the world, the positive contribution they can make to it and to have the resilience to meet the tests that life will bring them.