British Values

At Fairburn View Primary School, our aim is to ensure children become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and tolerance, regardless of their background. To this end, we promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs. We want to ensure our pupils understand the importance of respect and leave school fully prepared, both personally and socially, for life in modern Britain.

What are ‘fundamental British Values’?

Schools are required to provide for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of their pupils. As part of this requirement, schools are expected to actively promote fundamental British values.

The government defines these as:

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

What does this mean for my child?

Schools’ programmes for learning about fundamental British values are designed to prepare children and young people for life in modern Britain. This includes helping pupils understand:

• The importance of combatting discrimination
• How we can influence decision making by taking part in democratic processes like voting and petitioning
• Our freedom under British law to choose different faiths and beliefs
• That the law is there to keep us safe

What does this look like in our school?

At Fairburn View we have worked endlessly to ensure that Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) aspects of learning which promote the development of fundamental British Values are at the heart of our curriculum and school ethos.

Our SCARF curriculum contributes significantly to this aim by promoting health and wellbeing across the school community within a robust PSHE framework. SCARF’s values of Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience and Friendship, which underpin all of it’s content, align strongly with the key principles of SMSC. Within this context, it contributes significantly to British Values in their broadest sense both explicitly and implicitly. To see how fundamental British Values are planned and taught throughout our SCARF curriculum, please see the overview of individual lessons below.

As a school we value and celebrate being part of Britain. In general terms, this means that we celebrate traditions and customs throughout the year; including, Harvest Festival, Remembrance Day, Easter services and Christmas celebrations! We also value and celebrate national, charity and sporting events.

Learning about being part of Britain is also part of our wider school curriculum. In Geography and History, we ensure that the children have a better understanding of what Britain is, learning more about:

• capital cities and countries, rivers and mountains
• the local area and community
• how ‘Great Britain’ differs from ‘England’ and ‘the United Kingdom’; where Britain is in relation to the rest of Europe and other countries in the world
• British history, Monarchs, rulers and significant events that defined society

How SCARF supports teaching and learning about protected characteristics

The UK government recognises how important it is that “All children gain an understanding of the world they are growing up in, and learn how to live alongside, and show respect for, a diverse range of people. When we inspect schools, we assess how well they equip children to do this.” 

Teaching and learning about protected characteristics is therefore fully integrated into SCARF, through age-appropriate content across the SCARF spiral curriculum.

However, some protected characteristics benefit from the in-depth coverage that will give children time to explore the knowledge and attitudes that will help them develop an appreciation of them. We’ve mapped the SCARF lessons that provide this greater depth to the relevant protected characteristics, but it’s important to understand that teaching and learning about them threads through the vast majority of SCARF lesson plans.