British Values
Acceptance and engagement with the fundamental British values of democracy
The Rule of Law
Individual Liberty
Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
Democracy
In a democratic system anyone can be voted in as the leader. We can choose a person who we believe will make the best choices for us as a group. People can also support, oppose and draw attention to things they would like the leaders to change through campaigns and demonstration. In this way we hope that the majority get to make an agreed decision.
We believe this system to be one of fairness and encourage our students to voice their own opinions (however loud that may be!) but we also teach them that a democratic system means having to accept decisions made by the majority. This can sometimes be a very hard lesson to learn, especially for SEN children, but we hope they come to understand why we feel this system is one of the fairest.
The Rule of Law
The rule of law means that we have rules and laws in Britain that we hope make our country a fairer and safer place to live. We teach our children where these laws came from and also why we have particular laws. We enable students to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in our own country, and encourage them to look at other places in the world which have different laws. We discuss what it might be like to live in these countries and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of particular countries set of laws.
Individual Liberty
Individual liberty means that we are free to choose our own paths in life; to have our own beliefs, our own sexuality, and our own ideas and to hold our own political views. We encourage our students to appreciate how lucky they are to have these liberties and teach them to respect other people's choices.
We help students develop self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence through individual liberty and hope we can help them to make informed choices.
Mutual Respect
We create and encourage tolerance of different cultures and traditions by teaching them about other countries and their individual cultures. We encourage them to learn about different world religions and political systems now and through history.
We encourage our students to accept responsibility for their own behaviours and enable our students to distinguish right and wrong. We hope to help them to show initiative and to understand how they can contribute positively to society and the world at large.
At Hill Park School we take our responsibility to prepare children for life in modern Britain very seriously. We ensure that the fundamental British Values are promoted through our school vision and values, and throughout our curriculum, in particular RE, PSHE and Citizenship where lessons provide excellent opportunities to develop understanding.