British Values

The Department for Education introduced a statutory duty for schools to
promote British Values more actively from September 2014, to ensure they are
taught in schools.
Nether Stowe School is committed to serving its community. It recognises the
multi-cultural, multi-faith and ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom. It
also understands the vital role it has in ensuring that groups or individuals
within the school are not subjected to intimidation or radicalisation by those
wishing to unduly, or illegally, influence them.
It follows equal opportunities guidance which guarantees that there will be no
discrimination against any individual or group, regardless of faith, ethnicity,
gender, sexuality, disability, political or financial status, or similar. Nether Stowe
School is dedicated to preparing students for their adult life beyond the formal,
examined curriculum and ensuring that it promotes and reinforces British
values to all its students.
The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent
Strategy.
The five key British Values are:
• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs
Nether Stowe School uses strategies within the national curriculum and beyond
to secure such outcomes for students. The examples that follow show some of
the many ways Nether Stowe School seeks to instil British Values.

Democracy
Nether Stowe School values the importance of student opinion. We regularly seek
the views of our students via questionnaires, student voice forums and proactively
seek opportunities to informally gather the thoughts of our students. Students have
the opportunity to apply to become part of the senior student team. These leaders
are part of democracy in action when they are involved in the appointment of new
staff and feedback their views to the interview panel; their views help to support
and shape our whole school vision. In addition to this we afford parents the
opportunity to give their views on all aspects of school life via our parental
questionnaires and feedback sheets.

The Rule of Law
At Nether Stowe School we have clear behaviour and praise policies. We endeavour to
reward persistently positive behaviour and students who continually excel in their
lessons. Students have the opportunity to earn praise points for effort, commitment to
extra-curricular opportunities and attainment. Our tutor programme and vertical
tutoring structure re-enforce and shape school rules and policies. Students are
instrumental in agreeing and setting agreed codes of practice to ensure support and
respect of all peers. Our teachers, Heads of College and Pastoral teams all work
together in ensuring that students understand rules and responsibilities and the
consequences if these are broken. Regular college assemblies also help re-enforce
these expectations. We endeavour to create an atmosphere of mutual support and
respect. We work closely with the local community and police, who visit the school
regularly and take and take an active role in supporting our rules and expectations.
Some examples of curriculum provision include: Within the PSHE curriculum students
specifically examine how the rule of law unifies our diverse population. Every student is
an individual and brings different skills and qualities to our school. We are proud of this
and aim to ensure that there are a range of different opportunities available to develop
the unique skills of our students. All subject areas create an atmosphere of respect
within their classrooms to ensure that students feel safe. Whilst we are not naive
enough to say that bullying does not happen at Nether Stowe School, incidents are rare
and acted upon quickly to ensure that students understand this is not accepted, nor will
it be tolerated. Our pastoral team is instrumental in this process and supporting other
staff in building a positive culture where differences are respected, celebrated and all
students feel confident, supported and happy in school. We have assemblies and work
in tutor time around the use of social media and cyber bullying which also includes
advice about the dangers of being on-line. In drama we study the issues of racism,
prejudice and segregation at KS3 and the skill of empathy is taught to enable students
to reflect upon the standpoint of others. Many subjects such as English utilise these
skills to use drama type activities within their teaching & learning.

Individual Liberty
At Nether Stowe School we have clear behaviour and praise policies. We endeavour
to reward persistently positive behaviour and students who continually excel in
their lessons. Students have the opportunity to earn praise points for effort,
commitment to extra-curricular opportunities and attainment. In PSHE work
students look at the issues surrounding British Values, including work on
democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance. In
English a range of texts and activities cover different themes associated with British
Values. Poetry from other cultures teach tolerance of those from other cultures,
mutual respect is discussed through Victorian literature, Animal Farm and conflict
poetry highlight individual liberty and issues relating to the rule of law are inherent
in the novels Noughts and Crosses and Stone Cold. In the history curriculum the
role of individual liberty is central to programmes of study in all Key Stages.
Examples are numerous and involve the feudal system in medieval times, life in
dictatorships and other examples at KS3. In GCSE history, the Liberal Reform Acts
are studied and individual liberty discussed and voting and democracy are
explained through the Reform Acts.

Mutual Respect
The school has encourages pupils to adopt Creativity, Determination, Pride and
Teamwork as part of their approach to learning which promotes skills essential for
mutual respect. Reflection skills such as empathy, collaboration & interdependence
are developed. Teachers explicitly mention these skills when rewarding pupils. The
tutor programme and assemblies have covered topics such as Black History,
internet safety around the posting of messages and mental health awareness. Some
example of our curriculum provision include: tolerance and respect for the life
stances and beliefs others of others, taught within PSHE and religious studies.
Respect for religions, political persuasions and all manner of beliefs is promoted
when studying each unit for example, anti-semitism in Nazi Germany. In art, artists’
work from all cultures is studied creating discussion about what we think and what
others may think. This creates an ethos where students vocalise curiosities about
others and contribute to thoughts and engage in conversation in a constructive way.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs
Our curriculum recognises the diverse multi-cultural faiths that are present in
Britain and within religious education in KS3 students study a variety of faiths
including Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. In science we
explore the topic of religion & transplants and in biology Darwinism forms part of
the curriculum. In chemistry and physics in Year 9 we study how the earth was
formed and take into account how religious views have opposed science and how
this has been resolved. Students discuss their own stances on these issues in an
atmosphere of respect. In A level history, tolerance of other faiths is explored
through the reformation and the modern day conflict in Northern Ireland is also
studied to show the importance of religious tolerance.