The Government set out its definition of British Values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values have been reiterated by the Prime Minister this year. The DfE has recently reinforced the need 'to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values.' These are:

•          Democracy
•         The rule of law
•          Individual liberty
•          Mutual respect
•          Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

At St. Columba's Catholic Primary School, these values are reinforced throughout our school and are taught explicitly throughout the Curriculum.

Democracy

Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through Class and School Councils. Each year, elections are held and children engage in the democratic process by completing and returning ballot forms in a formal election procedure.  Please visit the 'School Council' section of our website for further information.  Children, parents and staff are given regular opportunities to give feedback on school life. This is done through pupil interviews, Parents' Forum, parent/staff/pupil questionnaires, individual meetings, pupil suggestion boxes and fortnightly School Council Meetings.

Throughout school, we show the value of democracy by:

• having a school council, eco-warriors, liturgy leaders and global gang clubs;
• voting for class representatives to the council;
• studying the development of sovereignty and government in Britain over time;
• raising awareness of current affairs with the children at an age appropriate level;
• pupils having the opportunity to select charities we raise money for

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. We follow five golden rules in school and children are reminded of these on a regular basis.  We adhere to a well considered and effective behaviour policy and children are disciplined appropriately when rules are broken.  This is always within the understanding of mutual respect and that we are all made in the image and likeness of God.

We constantly remind the children about the Gospel Values and emphasise that we all need to follow and demonstrate them as part of our Catholic Life.

We follow the value of Rule of Law by:

• adopting and embedding a strong positive behaviour and anti-bullying policy which contains clear rewards and sanctions;
• arranging visits from the Police and other local organisations service to reinforce the message of right and wrong;
• having a clear set of Golden Rules in school which we all follow;
• understanding why laws are important and necessary for school life;
• teaching about the laws of Britain at an age-appropriate level;
• teaching about religious laws e.g. commandments through our Religious Education lessons. 

Individual Liberty

Pupils are encouraged to be independent learners, constantly making choices, within a safe and supportive environment. Developing their self-esteem and self-confidence is very important. Pupils are encouraged to understand their personal freedoms and are taught how to use these rights to best effect. All pupils are keen to support charities, whether local, national or global. They are taught consideration for others through our Religious Education curriculum and PSHE lessons in particular. E-safety teaching enables them to make choices in a safe manner.

We follow the value of Individual Liberty by:

• interviewing pupils to enable them to give their opinion sand views on their experiences of school life;
• providing opportunities for children to work collaboratively within their own year groups and across year groups;
• teaching about belonging to groups and personal identity through our Religious Education curriculum;
• our responsibility as children of God to look after and care for His creation;
• our Jesuit values of curious and active, intentional and prophetic.

Mutual Respect

Our school’s ethos and behaviour policy are based on Gospel values, with the important commandment being, ‘Love one another as I have loved you’. Assemblies constantly promote respect for others and the importance of good manners.  All pupils are taught the importance of self-respect, honest and open communication with others and fair play. Pupils work collaboratively and value others’ opinions.

We follow the value of Mutual Respect by:

• our Jesuit Pupil Profile values which are studied on a half termly basis;
• adopting and embedding a strong positive behaviour and anti-bullying policy which contains clear rewards and sanctions;
• studying other faiths which involves visits to places of worship;
• teaching about respecting ourselves and others through our SRE curriculum;
• Eco-warriors being involved in caring for our local environment;
• Global gang work on Water Aid, Fairtrade Fortnight and other initiatives to raise awareness.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

As a Catholic worshiping community, pupils are reminded of their place in a culturally diverse society. This is achieved through our Religious Education curriculum and the spiritual life of the school. Assemblies and class work promote the diversity of society and the right for each person to be respected and valued equally regardless of ability, gender, faith, heritage or race. Our Global Gang also strives to develop the understanding of different faiths and beliefs to the rest of the school and wider community.

We follow the value of Tolerance by: 

• visiting places of worship for other faiths and receiving visitors from other faiths in school;
• recognising and celebrating cultural celebrations for children from different countries within our school;
• raising money for those in need locally and internationally;
• Global Gang work on other faiths;
• Culture week which teaches about other faiths and cultures;
• teaching in Religious Education where links are necessary.

Pupil Profile - The Jesuit Institute

The Jesuit Pupil Profile has its own logo which shows the virtues we will be focussing on.  The tree is symbolic of the growth of the virtues. Within its branches comfortably resting is the goldfinch which has been used in art since medieval times to symbolise Christ and the Passion.

All schools in the diocese are adopting an approach similar to the Jesuit Pupil Profile. In the profile are eight sets of words which have been paired together because of their complementary and harmonising relationship to one another: from the development of one virtue springs another.