British Value

• We teach children what democracy is in an age-appropriate way, at the start of the academic year.
• We teach children about democracy in contrast to other forms of government in other countries (e.g. Communism in China, Year 6).
• We hold an annual election to allow children to place their votes for the Pupil Leadership Team representative from each class.
• The annual election also includes school-wide nominations for the Head Boy and Head Girl. The candidates then hold hustings with the aim of gaining votes from their peers in a following election.   
• The Hightown Pupil Leadership Team meets every two weeks to discuss current issues and allows children the opportunity to lead on pupil voice.
• We also have a Trust-wide Pupil Leadership Team that meet every half term with the CEO of the Inspire Learning Partnership to discuss topical issues, including a current project on environment and sustainability.
• We teach children how to create balanced arguments and defend particular points of view through curriculum projects. For example, ‘Is it fair that more first-class passengers survived on the Titanic than third-class passengers?’ (Year 2) and ‘Should animals be kept in Zoos?’ (Year 6).  
• We gather parent opinions throughout the year through online questionnaires and a half-termly parent forum.
• The Friends of Hightown (PTA) also ask for parent opinions in their fundraising efforts.
• Our strong safeguarding culture recognises the importance of political views and staff are vigilant in raising any concerns about the children.

• We teach children how the law works in Britain in an age-appropriate way.
• Children at Hightown are taught our school expectations of ‘Be Safe, Ready and Respectful’. Children understand the importance of following our school rules and how this is similar to rules in the wider society.
• Our Behaviour Policy details our positive rewards and sanctions in place when the rules and expectations are not followed.
• We have regular community involvement with the local PCSO team. The PCSOs visit each class and talk about what they do to keep everyone safe in the community.  They speak about the importance of following rules in an age-appropriate way.
• Hampshire & The Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service also visit the school to talk about Fire Safety and how we must follow rules to keep safe.
• Children in Year 6 take part in ‘Bikeability’ which teaches them bike skills and also teaches them the rules of the road, including what a range of traffic signs mean.
• Our PSHE curriculum gives children an opportunity to understand their emotions and feelings and why it might sometimes feel difficult to follow the rules (e.g. peer pressure)
• In Computing, children also learn about rules, for example age restrictions on certain games and social media. They gain an understanding about why such rules exist and the risks involved if these rules are not followed.
• Our Collective Worship themes also provide children with another opportunity to experience and reflect on the rule of law.
• Our strong safeguarding culture recognises the importance of the rule of law and staff are vigilant in raising any concerns about the children.

• We run a wide range of after-school clubs for the children and encourage the children to independently select which clubs they would like to participate in. We ensure equality of opportunity at all clubs and we do our best to ensure that there are no barriers to participation. 
• There are range of class responsibilities (including for the Pupil Leadership Team) that children can put themselves forward for.
• We have alternative areas on offer to children at lunchtime if they struggle outside or would rather be inside (e.g. the Rainbow Room and the ELSA room) and encourage the children to make individual choices about where they would like to be.
• Our PSHE curriculum gives children an opportunity to understand their emotions and what individual choices they may have to make.
• Our RE curriculum teaches children about Christianity, Sikhism, Judaism and Islam. Children learn to develop an understanding about what it means to hold certain beliefs.  They learn to respect everyone’s individual liberty to hold different faiths and beliefs.
• Our Collective Worship themes also provide children with another opportunity to experience and reflect on individual liberty.
• Children are encouraged to make choices in their own learning.
• We hold a curriculum drop down day once every half term. Some themes promote individual liberty e.g. LGBQT+ awareness day.
• Our strong safeguarding culture recognises the importance of individual liberty and staff are vigilant in raising any concerns about the children.

• Our RE curriculum teaches children about Christianity, Sikhism, Judaism and Islam. Children learn to develop an understanding about what it means to hold certain beliefs.  They learn to respect everyone’s individual different faiths and beliefs.
• We use a range of teaching resources to help children understand a range of religions, faith and beliefs.
• Southampton City Mission run Question of Faith days once a year in every year group where children learn about Christianity. They also support and run Christian assemblies, for example on the topic of Harvest.
• We also attend the local Church at Christmas time.
• As part of our RE curriculum we plan trips to alternative places of worship.
• Our overall Hightown expectations are ‘Be safe, ready and respectful’ so naturally there is a lot of discussion in school about what being respectful means. Children gain an understanding of this and what it means to them.
• Our PSHE curriculum gives children an opportunity to understand their emotions and learn about concepts such as respect and tolerance, learning that it is okay to hold different beliefs than others.
• In our weekly Celebration Assembly, children learn to respect others and celebrate their achievements.
• We also encourage an awareness and appreciation of other cultures through our reading curriculum with particular book choices or authors chosen intentionally (e.g. The Boy at the Back of the Class). We also study a range of different artists so that children gain an appreciation of culture and the wider society.
• Each class has two assigned Little People, Big Dreams books in which they learn about individuals who have had a significant impact on the World (e.g. Rosa Parks and Mae Jemison).
• We learn about and recognise differences through our curriculum drop down days and reflect on the impact that we have on the world. (e.g. World Water Day).
• Our Collective Worship themes also provide children with another opportunity to experience and reflect on respecting others and understanding what tolerance means.
• Our strong safeguarding culture recognises the importance of mutual respect and tolerance and staff are vigilant in raising any concerns about the children.