British Values at Holyhead

At Holyhead we Teach What Matters. We take our responsibility to shape tomorrow’s citizens and employees seriously. Our ethos and values; Creativity, Character, Community and Care have been tailored to actively meet the five British Values identified by the Department for Education:

1. Democracy
2. The rule of law
3. Individual liberty
4. Mutual respect
5. Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

Our students are taught the importance of Excellence, Respect, and Responsibility and are given the tools to be able to apply these in British Society.

---

Below are some examples of how British Values are taught throughout our curriculum – this is by no means an exhaustive list:

Democracy

At Holyhead we promote the importance of democracy through:

• Student voice surveys
• Student Council

These provide a platform for students to voice their opinions and fairly elect peers.

The rule of law

At Holyhead, we promote a culture of respect for school and rules. These rules are in place in the form of a student code of conduct and aim to prepare students for the professional world. During KS3 and KS4 students study the use of drugs and alcohol. Students understand what the laws are behind these and why they are necessary. We also look at the consequences when these laws are not followed. During KS5 we look more in-depth at the rules of other countries and how they differ from those of our own.

Individual liberty

We invest a great deal of time in creating a positive culture in our school so that students are in a safe environment where choice and freedom are encouraged. For example, in lessons, students often have a choice of learning tasks. We encourage students to choose a task that will challenge them, giving them more freedom to determine their own learning. We also offer a range of enrichment opportunities that students have the freedom to choose from, based on their interests. We teach books that cover individual liberty and engage students in discussions around crime and punishment, the rights to life, and euthanasia.

Mutual respect

Developing a culture of mutual respect and support is crucial to the continued success of Holyhead.

We look to demonstrate this through the nature of relations between staff and students, and amongst the students themselves. There is a range of ways in which mutual respect is actively promoted such as:

 

• Students presenting to each other in assemblies, lessons and Tutor groups are encouraged to develop confidence.
• Discuss and Debate activities in Tutor sessions used to promote a range of views and listen to the views/opinions of others.
• All Schemes of Learning (SoL) encourage students to think deeply about their own and the experiences of others.
• SoLs introduce students to the concept that all humans are unique in their own way and open-mindedness is a very positive quality to have within society.
• Joint celebration of different religious festivals and culture dress days encourage increased understanding and acceptance.

Behaviour, Attitudes and Personal Development

We take our responsibility to shape tomorrow’s citizens and employees seriously and invest much of our energy into modelling what self-leadership, self-regulation and kindness looks like. We develop a community built upon a foundation of positive relationships that we celebrate and reinforce. We also believe that good character supports higher levels of achievement and we teach our core values around confidence, organisation, resilience, empathy to all students and staff via a carefully constructed programme. We believe in restorative conversations and taking responsibility for our actions. We promote honesty, tolerance, and kindness.

High standards are how we are able to achieve such great examination results. Our attention to detail and relentless drive to hold each other to account means our attitudes are never defined by our postcode.

Our focus on the highest quality of education extends beyond the classroom and involves all staff. Every interaction is an opportunity to model what we expect. We are all teachers of children. We aim to exceed expectations in every aspect of what we do. That doesn’t just apply to Teaching staff. This commitment to a high performing culture is also present in our passionate support of wider learning and enrichment activities.

Social Moral Spiritual Culture (SMSC)

Social Moral Spiritual Culture (SMSC) is intertwined across lessons, tutor times and assemblies. It aims to:

 

• Enable students to consider spiritual and moral issues, as well as explore their own beliefs.
• Provide students with the opportunity to plan, lead or contribute to discussions on key themes and topics, e.g. morality.
• Help students to develop an awareness of their community and the spirit of helping others.
• Develop a spirit of community and an understanding of individuals with other beliefs.
• Acknowledge diversity and affirm each individual’s life stance, whether religious or not.
• Promote a common ethos and shared values.
• Reinforce positive attitudes.