The Craylands School British Values 

Democracy is richly embedded within the school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council, pupil questionnaires, and discussions with members of staff (including the Senior Leadership Team) and through being a Head Student. Our school behaviour and values policies involve rewards and sanctions; this is shared through all aspects of school life and also shared with parents, carers and children from Reception to Year 6. 

 

As part of election of school councillors, they learn about Democracy. Each school councillor delivers a speech to the class. Members of the class then vote for whom they believe will deliver on the pledges. School councillors meet regularly, to discuss ideas put forward by their classes and how they can help to improve the school further. In previous years, the school council have visited the Houses of Parliament and have met the Mayor of Dartford. 

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 collective worship time. 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. Workshops held on anti bullying and online safety, as well as visits from authorities such as fire fighters support with developing children's understanding on the importance of rules. 

 

Moreover, as part of PSHE, each class creates a set of class rules; emphasis is given on the importance of law in the classroom and what would happen if these laws did not exist. Links are made with older pupils, about the importance of laws in society. Year 6 consider the rights they believe they have and the responsibilities they have to uphold in order to have these rights. 

During PE sessions, extra-curricular sports clubs as well as sporting tournaments, pupils are encouraged to demonstrate fair sportsmanship; they are taught the importance of needing rules within sport which in turn, helps them play fairly. 

As a school which holds values at the core of its ethos, our school Values and Behaviour policies have evolved around Core Values such as ‘Respect’, and pupils have been part of discussions and collective worship related to what this means and how it is shown. Respect is one of our values taught explicitly within lessons and collective worship. It makes up part of our weekly celebratory assembly, in which one pupil from each class is given a ROARS (Respect Others Act Responsibly Stay Safe) award for demonstrating tolerance and respect towards each other and staff. 

 

Adults throughout the school model, demonstrate and promote respect for others as do older children who have suitable, age related, tasks and responsibilities and this is reiterated through our classroom and learning rules, as well as our behaviour. 

At The Craylands School we celebrate the culturally rich and diverse society that makes up Britain; when possible we provide children with the opportunities to learn from each other by sharing and celebrating their different faiths and cultures. Collective worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed up and supported by learning in RE and RSE. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school. 

 

In RE, pupils learn about the different religions that exist within British society and they compare the similarities and differences between them. Christianity, Judiasm, Islam and Sikhism are all covered across Key Stage 2; pupils are aware that all these religions are practised in Britain and they learn about these, upholding respect for the beliefs of each religion. 

In addition to intrinsic themes running throughout the ethos of the school, there are times when these identified topics above are also taught within specific units of work. 

 

The Craylands’ Geography curriculum teaches our pupils that Britain is an island nation. 

The school learns about the similarities and differences between British culture and that of European countries, as well as further abroad (South and North America). The children empathise with those from other cultures by writing from their perspective, after researching life in other countries. 

 

Within History, the pupils in Key Stage 2, learn about life in Ancient civilisations as well as early British History (Stone Age, Romans, Vikings and Saxons). They learn about the influence that these eras of history have on the way that they live today. Each year, the school celebrate Black History Month; assemblies are held and lessons are taught about the impact that influential Black people have had on the way that we live today – within a respectful, multi-cultural, diverse but most importantly equal society. 

 

School assemblies at The Craylands School, reflect current festivals or national awareness weeks which are taking place across Britain. Such themed weeks are Anti Bullying week, Parliament Week, Black History Month, Diwali/Bonfire Night and Chinese New Year. Remembrance day is honoured by the whole school in an assembly which is led by the pupils; pupils respect and recognise the loss of the lives of those who fought in the war from countries all over the world.