Rationale

At The Federation of Holy Trinity Church of England Schools we aim to actively promote British values in school to ensure that all pupils leave our school prepared for life in modern Britain. The Department for Education’s vision, “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” is embedded in our school policies and procedures ensuring that all our pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is 'right' and 'wrong', all people living in England are subject to its law.

At Holy Trinity, we uphold and teach pupils about the British Values which are defined as:

• Democracy  understanding the democratic process and the rights we have surrounding voting for what we want
• Rule of law following rules and understanding why they are there to protect yourself and others.
• Individual liberty making safe decisions and knowing when to seek advice.
• Mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs understanding the beliefs and cultures of others and those without faith even if they are not those of your own.

These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE).  We also teach British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum. The School Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) graded our junior school as 'good' which demonstrates evidence of our commitment to British Values (September 2022).

The Federation of Holy Trinity Church of England Schools takes opportunities to actively promote British Values through our daily collective worship, whole school systems and structures.  We also actively promote British Values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values.

Values

Our school is a community of faith where ‘each day opens up horizons of hope, aspiration and joy.’ We are a caring community, whose core values are built on mutual trust and respect. Our approach to promoting British values is therefore designed to support the way in which the members of the school can live and work together in a supportive way. We believe that our core Christian values are the key facilitators in ensuring British values are integral through all facets of federation life. For success and achievement, all pupils and staff should be aware of the core values and British Values within the school and surrounding community.

At The Federation of Holy Trinity Church of England Schools our values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy:

Democracy is an important value at our school. The school has a proactive pupil voice strategy, enabling pupils to express their views to make a credible impact on school life. Our city is proud of its military heritage; a significant number of our pupils are from military families and are proud of their role in protecting democracy. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our Pupil Governors. Our Pupil Governors consist of two elected representatives from each class; the elections of members of Pupil Governor is based on pupil votes. The Pupil Governors have an elected chair, vice chair and treasurer. Pupil governors meet weekly with the Executive Headteacher, they also attend LAC meetings to discuss specific agenda items. Each year pupils decide upon their class expectations and the rights associated with these.

The Rule of Law:

The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout our school day. Our behaviour management is aligned to our core Christian values, clearly communicated expectations of behaviour. The Federation of Holy Trinity Church of England Schools is committed to creating a welcoming community of faith where high expectations for behaviour and conduct are understood and applied consistently.  At Holy Trinity, everyone is expected to maintain the highest standards of personal conduct, to accept responsibility for their behaviour and encourage others to do the same. Our Behaviour Policy is inclusive and designed to support the way in which all members of the school can learn and flourish together. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken.

Individual Liberty:

Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices at our school, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a federation, we provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and planned curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised on how to exercise these safely, for example through our e-safety teaching and PSHE lessons. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, e.g. signing up for extra-curricular clubs or roles in school. Collective Worship in school is supported by Worship Warriors, these pupils, selected through an application process, influence the organisation and evaluation of school worship influencing how future worship is celebrated. Worship Warriors also deliver child-led collective worship. The school has trained proactive teams of pupils, e.g. Class Ambassadors, Digital Leaders and Mini Mellors who support their peers in making informed choices during unstructured times of the day.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance of Those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

The vision for our school is to be a ‘welcoming community of faith where we learn and flourish together.’ We aim to embed, through an ethos of nurture, living out our core Christian values. The Federation of Holy Trinity Church of England Schools is situated in a city of sanctuary. We have seen an increase in diversity over the last few years and now have around 23 different languages represented in our school.  Our school ethos and behaviour policy are based around core Christian values such as ‘respect’ and ‘responsibility’ and these values determine how we live as a community. This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience diversity.  Pupils and adults are challenged if they are disrespectful in any way. Collective Worship is proactively used to address conflict or challenge prejudice issues directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures and opportunities are developed for pupils to explore Christianity as a multi-cultural world faith.  Our RE and PSHE teaching reinforces this.  Collective Worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE.