We are the Academy leads on British Values across the whole academy. We are Miss Salter and Miss Dean   Our role is to teach and promote the British Values at Oxley Park Academy. We organise and run our annual British Values Day for years Reception through to Year 6, create weekly British Value flashback questions for the whole school to instil understanding, liaise with the Junior Ambassador Team on running elections, create British Values displays, signage and zones of learning, and resource each class with books and materials to support their understanding and provide deeper discussions into each value.  

Promoting British Values @ Oxley Park Academy

The Department for Education 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.”

The Government set out its definition of British Values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy. At Oxley Park Academy these values are reinforced regularly through everyday activities, our own 6C’s, FAB Habits and in the following ways:

Democracy

Democracy is prevalent across our school, with both children and staff having a voice in decision making. We work in many teams to decide how our school is run. Together these make Team Oxley.  Children regularly have the opportunity to share their views with the Junior Ambassador Team and through pupil questionnaires. The school holds elections for Junior Ambassador Representatives and for our Academy Ambassadors, where every child votes. Throughout the year the Junior Ambassador Team run votes at our school polling station to help them inform the next steps for our school. Democracy is evident in everyday life at Oxley Park Academy, with mini votes in class, staff surveys, and through our schools behaviour policy which allows the children to have a say in the rewards given.

The Rule of Law

At Oxley Park Academy the children experience the rule of law through our visual and child-friendly behaviour stages and Fab 5 habits. They strive to achieve our school rewards and understand the consequences of their actions if they break any of the school rules. School assemblies consistently reinforce the importance of law within the school and the country, and further in depth learning on law is taught through PSHE, PE and history lessons. Regular visits from authorities such as the police and fire service provide children with real life law enforcement experiences, and support their understanding in how to follow the rule of law. Out on the playground, children create their own rules in play and work together to achieve fair play. 

Individual Liberty

Oxley Park children are free to make choices to help them develop as individuals. We help this decision-making skill by giving them lots of opportunities to make a choice, whilst being guided by our school values. The children choose who they are friends with, what challenges they complete in lessons, what games they play outside, what library book they’d like to read, which homework challenges they complete and which sports academies they attend. Specific choices to support the safety and wellbeing of children are taught and practised during PSHE lessons and through our E-safety policy in computing lessons. Having individual liberty is what makes Team Oxley shine – with adults and children showing initiative, creativity, and having each other’s suggestions heard and acted upon.

Mutual Respect

Here at Oxley Park Academy the children are taught that everyone is different, unique and valued. We celebrate our differences and what makes us special. One way in which children are celebrated at Oxley Park Academy is through our FAB Friday celebrations where children may receive a Golden Ticket through their letter box at home, a FAB call home or perhaps even a FABtastic stamp for their work! Mutual respect is a core value within our school and is threaded through our school identity. Our 6C values highlight the importance of mutual respect by encouraging the children to be caring and cooperative towards others and for the children to show courtesy to whoever they meet. We also take pride in our FAB manners which we believe to be paramount in our community. Through our PSHE and RE lessons the children build an understanding of how we differ from one another and how we should treat others as we ourselves wish to be treated. We also model mutual respect to our teammates and opponents within our PE, both within school and outside of school. At Oxley Park Academy we want everyone to feel valued and welcomed by all.  

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

At Oxley Park Academy, we continuously highlight and teach the importance of tolerance by showing our utmost respect to them. It is absolutely crucial that we, as Oxley Parkers, understand that we live in a culturally diverse society. It is essential that we build a solid understanding and tolerance for others within our local and wider community who may have a different faith or belief. Through our RE lessons, we give the children the opportunity to explore a wide range of religions. We aim to provide the children with a firm understanding of how the beliefs, values, practices and ways of life within any religion link together. We also continuously engage in class discussions to deepen our understanding and encourage children to share their own personal beliefs with each other.  Across the year we share and learn about special days and festivals in all major religions across the world. The children have the opportunity to learn about these within our whole school assemblies, through RE lessons and also through visitors to the school. Here at Oxley Park Academy, we accept that others may have different faiths and beliefs to ourselves, but we strive to understand one another and celebrate our world’s diversity.