Diocese of Westminster Education Service

British Values

What are British Values?

Please click to expand the headings below. There is a description of the value and suggestions of what schools in the Diocese may do to promote it.

What is it

“Demos” is the Greek word for “people”. “Crat” is the Greek word for “power” so democracy is “people power“.

In his Gettysburg Address (1863) Abraham Lincoln described “government of the people, by the people, for the people“.

How could we promote democracy?
  1. Having a School Council
  2. Hold mock elections
  3. Take part in debating competitions
  4. Invite MPs and other speakers to the school
  5. Visit parliaments, assemblies and local councils
  6. Participate in the UK Youth Parliament
  7. Highlighting the development of democratic ideas in history lessons.
  8. Allowing pupils to vote for Head Boy/ Head Girl/ House or Sports captains.
  9. Ensuring all pupils are listened to by adults.
What is it?

Everyone has to obey the law. Anyone who breaks the law will be held to account fairly. The rich and powerful do not get special treatment.

How could we promoted the Rule of Law?
  1. Create some “class rules” together
  2. Having a clear behaviour policy that is explained to all.
  3. Highlighting the rules of the Church and God in the RE curriculum, for example the 10 commandments and the Precepts of the Church.
  4. Organise visits from the police service to reinforce the message of right and wrong
  5. Hold a mock trial – visit this website to find a step by step guide, including a script, guidance for each role and mock evidence. (http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/lib_res_pdf/0122.pdf)
  6. Teaching about the development of the Rule of Law in English Law, a legal system created uniquely in a Catholic England, inspired by Christian values and becoming a major influence across the world.
What is it

The right of people to decide how they choose to live their lives, as long as this does not have a negative impact on the lives of others.

How can we promote individual liberty?
  1. Inform your conscience to make sure that your decisions will not be harmful to anyone.
  2. Think, what is the most loving thing to do?
  3. Reflect and take responsibility for thinking about your vocation.
  4. Encourage students to be independent in their learning.
What is it?

People listening to and valuing the views of each other.

How can we promote mutual respect?
  1. Follow Jesus’ example by being friendly and loving to your neighbour
  2. Our individuality and our differences are something to be celebrated. Take the time to get to know others.
  3. Promote respect for others as good manners
  4. Value your classmates’ opinions
  5. Support charitable works
  6. Having a mission statement that is inclusive.
  7. Having an effective anti-bullying policy.
  8. Emphasising in RE and PSCHE lessons that every person is unique and ‘created in the image of God’.
  9. Having active educational links with other schools.
What is it?

Respecting people’s right to freely practice any religion they choose or to live without any religion at all.

How can we promote tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs?
  1. Highlight how Religious Education provides pupils with a deep understanding of their own faith as well as awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities as a basis for understanding and respecting them.
  2. Show how Jesus encouraged tolerance in stories such as The Good Samaritan and The Woman at the Well.

Further Suggestions on how to promote British Values

  • The School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 states that schools’ websites must provide information on the ‘content of the curriculum followed by the school for each subject’. When doing this they may wish to highlight times at which particular Catholic and British values are emphasised.
  • Schools may consider including a statement on their website which outlines the values they promote within a broad and balanced Catholic curriculum.
  • Schools may wish to elaborate further what a ‘broad and balanced’ means in their context and give more specific examples of how this is achieved in their school.

How to promote British Values

Catholic school communities promote values that are both Catholic and British. By our words and actions we live out the ‘British’ values listed by the government above. However, we do much more than that, seeking to base all that we do on the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The Department For Education has also provided following examples of the actions schools could take to promote British values:

  • Include in suitable parts of the curriculum- as appropriate for the age of pupils- material on the strengths, advantages, and disadvantages of democracy, and how democracy and the law works in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries;
  • Ensure all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and demonstrate how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes such as a school council whose members are voted for by pupils;
  • Use opportunities such as general or local elections to hold mock elections to promote fundamental British values and provide pupils with the opportunity to learn how to argue and defend points of view; and
  • Consider the role of extra-curricular activity, including any run directly by pupils, in promoting fundamental British values.

The result of promoting British Values

The Department for Education provides a list that describes the understanding and knowledge expected of pupils as a result of schools promoting fundamental British values:

  1. An understanding of how citizens can influence devision making through the democratic process;
  2. An appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
  3. An understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
  4. An understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
  5. An acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and,
  6. An understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination.

Useful Resources