Halfway Junior School

  1. About Us
  2. British Values

British Values

At Halfway Junior School we believe that British Values is an essential part of our wider curriculum. They are reflected in our school vision, underpin our core values and are promoted through every day school life.

Democracy

Our whole school community have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. Each year every class elects two school council representatives. This process reflects the British democratic electoral system, with candidates having to make speeches and pupil’s voting using real ballot boxes borrowed from Sheffield Council for this event. Our school council meets regularly to discuss key priorities, raise issues and put forward their viewpoints on different subjects. They also work closely with other school councils from across the Westfield Family of Schools.

The Rule of Law

As a school we teach the importance, reasons and necessity of the law, whether that be the laws of the classroom, school or country. These are consistently reinforced throughout the school day. Whole school assemblies are used to teach the rule of law, along with PSHE lessons, which look at the responsibilities that we all have and consequences that can arise when laws are broken. We have close links with our local PCSOs and Fire Service who visit the school throughout the year. Our year 6 pupils also attend Crucial Crew, where they are taught the importance of being positive members of their community and get to re-enact a court-room drama!

Tolerance of those of different Faiths and Beliefs

Through our RE scheme of work, we teach our pupils about different faiths and beliefs, promoting differences, welcoming discussions, but most importantly teaching acceptance of others. During these lessons pupils learn about key religious leaders, different places of worship, festivals and stories from other faiths. Whole school assemblies are also used as a way to share different faiths and beliefs with our pupils.

Individual Liberty

As a school we promote individuality; in fact it is one of our core values. We believe that it is important to encourage children to make their own choices and have their own opinions, knowing that they can do this in a safe environment. We celebrate that everyone is different and that we are all unique, which is what makes our school, community and world such an exciting place to be!

Mutual Respect 

Respect is one of our core values and underpins everything we do. We feel that it is important to teach children about respecting others, property and, most importantly, about respecting themselves. We expect our children to make positive behaviour choices and our behaviour policy is built on mutual respect. We teach our children about the importance of morality and knowing the difference between making right and wrong choices through our everyday teachings and interactions with each other.