‘High quality learning and caring together in an encouraging Christian environment.’

We are a Church of England School and the Christian values are at the heart of everything that we do and believe in. Children are immersed in a set of values for life and are the best ambassadors at showing our values in action.

At Lawford C of E Primary School we also uphold and teach pupils about the British Values which are defined as:

• democracy

   

• rule of law

   

• individual liberty

   

• mutual respect

   

• tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

   

These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE).  We also teach the British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum. We have achieved the following external accreditations which demonstrate evidence of our commitment to British Values: 

i)        Ofsted grade of ‘Outstanding' behaviour (July 2007)

ii)        School Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) grade of  'Outstanding' (October 2018)

The school takes opportunities to actively promote British Values through our daily assemblies and whole school systems and structures such as electing and running a successful School Council. We also actively promote the British values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values. Actively promoting British Values also means challenging pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.

At Lawford C of E Primary School, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy:

Democracy is an important value at our school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council. The elections of members of the School Council  are based on pupil votes. Children recommend  through the school council each other for the weekly School Council Award, which recognises children following the three rule: Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Responsible and our Learning Dispositions: Resilience, Trust, Motivator, Evaluator, Collaborator .

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 regular school days. Collective worship is also used to make links with our school Christian Values adn the rule of law - within and without school.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. Visits from authorities such as the police, fire service, lifeguards etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.

Individual Liberty :

Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices at our school, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we provide boundaries for our children 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 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, choose the level of challenge in some lessons and are involved in and planning and delivering child led assemblies, evaluating assemblies, influencing how adults deliver content in future assemblies. SIAMs report: ‘They enjoy researching for, and leading class worship. An excellent example was on racism when pupils learnt that ‘everyone is the same and it is important not to hurt people’.

Mutual Respect:

Part of 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 at Lawford Primary School. Assemblies are based on the 'Big Story' and weaving through it 'Values for Life' and are central to how we expect everyone to go about their life at our school. Children and adults alike, including visitors, are challenged if they are disrespectful in any way. Values are highly visible around the school and can be seen in posters, certificates. Our SIAMS inspection confirms this is an outstanding aspect of life at Lawford C of E Primary School.

Tolerance of Those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity in our local community which is by large white British. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. We are very proud to be linked through the British Council adn the Diocese Muburu Primary School in Kenya. Linked projects encourage children to consider similarities and differences between our two schools and we actively encourage staff visits between Lawford C of E Primary School and Muburu Primary School . SIAMs report: ‘For example, pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the worldwide church is greatly enhanced through the link with Ghana [now Kenya] .’ We celebrate ‘European Day of Languages’ as a whole school encouraging children to research and discover differences and similarities between us and our European neighbours. Likewise we use opportunities such as the Olympics and World Cup to study and learn about life and culture in countries such as Brazil . SIAMS report: ‘They enjoy learning about other faiths and are clear about what mosque life means for Muslims and church life for Christians.’