SMSC & British Values
All maintained schools must meet the requirements set out in section 78 of the Education Act 2002 and promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of their pupils. Through ensuring pupils’ SMSC development, schools can also demonstrate they are actively promoting fundamental British values.
SMSC
SMSC stands for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. All schools in England must show how well their pupils develop in SMSC. As part of work in this area, it meets Article 2 for the Rights of the Child where they apply to every child without discrimination.
Spiritual Development
Spiritual development encourages pupils to understand characteristics such as courage, strength, hope, acceptance, compassion and love, so that they can face the challenges of human life.
Spiritual education enables children to explore their own beliefs and religion, as well as experiencing and understanding other faiths and values. Children should engage in learning about their own lives and interests, as well as developing their respect for other faiths and ways of life. Through reflection, imagination, creativity and enjoyment, children will develop their sense of identity and self-awareness; understanding their values and attitudes as whole. Our school curriculum gives children a range of opportunities to learn about the world around them and to reflect on the part they have to play in society.
Opportunities for Spiritual Education include:
| Visits to places of worship eg Church, Cathedral, Mosque | Multi faith displays |
| Visitors of different faiths eg Hinduism, Islam, Christianity | Carol singing for the community |
| The 5 Ways To Wellbeing and our PSHE curriculum | Supporting charities - Grantham Foodbank, Children In Need |
Recognising and celebrating religious celebrations eg Christmas, Easter, Eid, Remembrance, Harvest, Diwali | Positive behaviour management to develop self-worth |
| Nativity - KS1 production | Singing assemblies and Christingle |
| Residential visits - Castleton, Rand Farm | Pupil Parliament |
Moral Development
Moral development enables pupils to take an increasingly thoughtful view of what is right and wrong, encouraging characteristics such as kindness, unselfishness and truthfulness.
Moral education enables children to recognise and understand what is right and wrong and apply this knowledge into their own lives. Children should be able to follow rules and understand the consequences of their behaviour and actions, leading to an awareness and respect for the civil and criminal law of England. Through moral education, children should investigate, reflect upon, and question moral and ethical issues, as well as appreciating the viewpoints of others. Our school curriculum, values and ethos allow children to understand others, have empathy and understand that they have to be responsible citizens.
Opportunities for Moral Education include:
| Pupil Parliament | Mini Police |
| Equality Ambassadors/Playground Leaders | E-Safety & Antibullying Weeks |
| Visits from the police, fire service | Modern Slavery Workshop |
| Kindness Tokens - the 5 Ways to Wellbeing | Children make decisions for the school eg part of the interview process for our headteacher |
Developing teamwork and fair play through PE and group games | Whole school rules/ethos - respecting others and the environment |
| Star Achievers assembly | Young Sports Ambassadors |
Respecting other religions, cultures, faiths, sexuality, ages, genders through our curriculum, including PSHE | Educational visit to The Houses of Parliament, The National Holocaust Centre |
Social Development
Social development enables pupils to relate to others and development qualities of respectfulness, tolerance and a willingness to get involved with the wider community.
Social Education enables children to cooperate and work effectively with others in school, in the wider community and in society as a whole. Children should have the qualities to engage positively with others from different ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. Children should be encouraged to have the desire and skills to become a successful citizen, through developing understanding for others, conflict resolution and by volunteering in the community. Embedding the fundamental British Values ensures that children are prepared for life in modern Britain through understanding ‘Democracy’, ‘The Rule of Law’, ‘Individual Liberty’, ‘Mutual Respect’ and ‘Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs’. Children should develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.
Please see below how British Values are upheld and promoted at Belmont School.
Opportunities for Social Education include:
Engaging with the community - The Great Belmont Ramble | Encourage peer working across the curriculum |
| KS2 Music Celebration | Whole school celebrations |
| Team games - sports clubs, Swimarathon | Pupil Parliament |
| Staff modelling positive behaviour and respect for others | Our PSHE curriculum |
| Sports Day, Inspire+ & Young Sports Ambassadors | Extra-curricular and enrichment activities |
| Equality Ambassadors | Working with Reconnecting Grantham/Woodland Trust |
Cultural Development
Enables pupils to develop a sense of identity by understanding their cultures and cultures of others by engaging in music, arts, traditions and customs.
Cultural education enables children to understand and experience their own and other cultures. Through exploring the cultures in Britain and those within the local area in which they live, children have the knowledge and understanding of the history, cultures and values that have shaped Britain today, and is an essential element of their preparation for life in modern Britain. Children should be willing to enjoy and experience artistic, sporting and cultural opportunities. They should have interest in exploring, improving understanding of and showing respect for different faiths and cultural diversity, and the extent to which they understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity, as shown by their tolerance and attitudes towards different religious, ethnic and socio-economic groups in the local, national and global communities.
Opportunities for Cultural Education include:
| Our History, Geography, PSHE and RE curriculums with first-hand experiences and artefacts | Educational visits to the Houses of Parliament, The National Holocaust Centre, Southwell Workhouse, Flag Fen, Stibbington |
| Stories from other cultures | Harvest Festival - Grantham Foodbank |
| Multi-cultural resources, topics and festivals | Opportunities to take part in sporting events such as the Mini Olympics and representing the school in competitions |
| Music from other cultures | Residential visits to Castleton, Rand Farm |
| MFL – French | Enrichment clubs eg Art and sport |
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Promotion Of British Values
In 2014 the Government set out their expectations as regards the roles schools must play in ensuring children have a secure understanding of British Values. “A key part of our plan for education is to ensure children become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and tolerance, regardless of background.
We want every school to promote the basic British Values of: democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.
This ensures young people understand the importance of respect and leave school fully prepared for life in modern Britain.” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/guidance-on-promoting-british-values-in-schools-published
Belmont School upholds and promotes British Values in our curriculum in the following ways:
Democracy
Democracy is an important value at our school and children have opportunity for their voices to be heard:
Pupil Parliament
Our Pupil Parliament is led by three Year 6 pupils who take on the key roles of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary. These children are our ‘Pupil Leadership Team’ and organise meetings, set the agenda and record minutes. The Pupil Leadership Team also meets with a link Governor once a term to feedback and discuss up and coming priorities. This ensures that our Parliament is run by our children for our children. The Belmont Pupil Parliament meets every two weeks and pupils are expected to gather the views of their peers or complete tasks within this time.
Each long term, children meet as a ministry, or sub-committee, to discuss issues relating to a specific area of school life. The focus for the ministry changes each term and children are elected due to their passion for, or skill in, a particular area. Two ministers attend from each Key Stage 2 class; one is selected by the class teacher and one is elected by the children in the class. These ministers change three times a year, providing more children with the opportunity to be the voice of their peers. We use online resources from Online learning - Parliament UK Education to help pupils to gain a better understanding of the UK Parliament. This helps them to deepen their understanding of politics and to see the links between our Pupil Parliament and how our country is run.
Mini Police
Pupils from Years 5 and 6 are elected in a secret ballot by the children in KS2 to take part in the Mini Police project led by a member of staff. To be considered for the role, candidates give a 2 minute speech to their peers stating why they want the job and how they would help others. They work alongside Lincolnshire Police with the aim of making a difference to our school and to our local community by being good citizens within the school environment and being helpful to other children. They meet regularly with our local PCSO to learn how to communicate with a wide range of people in different ways and learn more about the values of tolerance, perseverance and respect. They are given the opportunity to have a leading role in leading changes within our local area and are encouraged to be role models for their peers. It is also hoped that the project helps break down barriers between children and the Police so that children will develop the confidence to approach and trust the Police.
Questionnaires and Interviews
Children’s views about their learning and school in general are very important to us. Our monitoring activities often involve consultation with our children – their views are sought through questionnaires and interviews, by staff members and sometimes by governors. The children tell us their thoughts about topics such as how teachers’ marking supports their learning, about how they would like targets to be organised and the types of resources they would like in the classroom and on the playground.
Parents Views
Parents are able to share their views by completing an annual questionnaire.
The Rule Of Law
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 assemblies. Children 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 and Fire Service are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.
Behaviour System
All children in the school know the importance of rules and the school as a whole follow the Golden Rules that are consistently reinforced throughout the school day. Our behaviour system is based on positive reinforcement. A colour code system for behaviour management is aligned to our rules; a well-established system is in place to show children how rules, behaviour and consequences are interlinked. When our school 'laws' are ‘broken’, children are given time to reflect, and they are supported in understanding how they can adapt their behaviour in light of this reflection, given the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends.
Assemblies
Assemblies regularly provide opportunities for children to learn about rules and to reinforce those that are important to the school, the country and the world. All assemblies provide opportunities for reflection and some provide practical strategies that the children can apply across the school day. There is a big emphasis on how the children can support each other. Our Star Achiever Assembly on Friday sees selected children receiving certificates for special achievements that week; certificates are often awarded for exceptional learning attitudes, reinforcing the importance of our school rules.
Mini Police
Our Mini Police work alongside Lincolnshire Police with the aim of making a difference to our school and to our local community by being good citizens within the school environment and being helpful to other children. They meet regularly with our local PCSO to learn how to communicate with a wide range of people in different ways and learn more about the values of tolerance, perseverance and respect. They are given the opportunity to have a leading role in leading changes within our local area and are encouraged to be role models for their peers. It is also hoped that the project helps break down barriers between children and the Police so that children will develop the confidence to approach and trust the Police.
Individual Liberty
Within school, children are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for young children to make choices safely, through of provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice of challenge or participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Mutual Respect
All members of the school community treat each other with respect. Children learn that their behaviours have an affect on their own rights and the rights of others and they have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what respect means and how it is shown. We help provide children with the skills required to access/share information, make/express decisions and apply themselves to society and the world. These include collaborative work, reading and writing skills, discussions and debates, research and share knowledge as well as gain a broad and balanced understanding of the society in which we live.
Throughout our curriculum we promote fair play and competition. We encourage these values, following and developing rules, inclusion, compromise, celebrating success, being magnanimous in defeat and participating in activities that promote kinship and affiliation with others.
Tolerance Of Those Of Different Faiths and Beliefs
We place a great emphasis on promoting diversity within the school environment. Assemblies are regularly planned to address this issue either directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. Our RE and PSHE teaching reinforces this and the children within our school enjoy learning about different religious celebrations and traditions. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to visit the school to share the knowledge and children visit places of worship that are important to different faiths.
At Belmont School we will actively challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including 'extremist' views.
