British Values

At Brandlehow, we feel that all pupils should have strong set of values and principals which allow them to flourish as they growing up in British Society (or whichever society they might be in).  The values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs run as a golden thread through Brandlehow.

Our pupils have a strong sense of right and wrong have a variety of outlets for expressing their feels in a productive manner.  Disputes between children can be resolved though the year 6 peer mediators, who are available to support children during playtimes. [photo of peer mediators]  Each class has a ‘worry box’ which they can use to share any concerns they have with their teacher.  The School Council also provides the children with an opportunity for the children to express their feelings about aspects of school life.

Our curriculum deeply embeds understanding and tolerance.  The children engage in powerful texts in literacy (e.g. Goodnight Mr Tom, Beegu, Charlottes Web, Journey to the Rive Sea, The Garbage King, Elmer, Handa’s Surprise) which delve into themes of identity, struggle, strife and perseverance, and give perspectives on life in different societies.  Though our humanities curriculum, we explore different faiths and believes held across the globe, and locally.  The children enjoy trips to our local places of worship, such as St Stephen’s Church, the South London Gurdwara and the Wimbledon Buddhist Temple.

Each year the children participate in a whole school Fun Run in which they dress-up and run around our local park to raise money for two charities – one local, one national/international.  The School Sports Council ask their classes which charities they would like to raise money for and vote on which to support.

Each week we hold an assembly that reflects Spiritual, Cultural, Moral or Ethical events of the week or month; this include faith celebrations such as Eid, Chinese New Year and Hanukka.  Other themes that we learn about include Black History month, Remembrance Day, Internet Safety Day and LGBT+ month.  Each assembly often includes either the celebration of work children have completed around the assembly topic, or it is used as a springboard to spark a school wide project.