SMSC and British Values

SMSC development is promoted through many aspects of school life and is embedded in the Values of Filey School. Our curriculum ensures that all students have opportunities to develop an understanding of right and wrong and an appreciation of the Arts in various forms. We give our students opportunities to practice the skills and attitudes required for them to participate fully in a democratic society; one such example of this is our ‘scenario based learning’ activities in form time.

Our SMSC provision helps our students to recognise that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law, in line with fundamental British Values. The school’s ethos and teaching supports the rule of English civil and criminal law and we do not teach anything that undermines it.

Aspects of SMSC development is delivered through the form time schedule which outlines activities to be facilitated each morning by form tutors, and is tightly linked to the weekly assembly programme and Life lessons.

The key objectives of our SMSC development:

Spiritual development:

We aim to develop of a sense of identity, self-reflection, self-worth, personal insight, meaning and purpose. It is about the development of a student’s personality or character.

Moral development:

We enable students to build a framework of moral values, aligned with the law of the land, which regulates their personal behaviour. It is also about gaining an understanding of the range of views and the reasons for the range. It is also about developing an opinion about the different views.

Social development:

We model to our students, and give them opportunities to practice, how to work effectively with each other through the development of the inter-personal skills necessary for successful relationships. This is vital to help them to understand how to function effectively in a multi-racial, multi-cultural society by making a positive contribution to the school community and wider society.

Cultural development:

We aim to help our students develop an understanding of their own culture and other cultures in the local area, the Yorkshire and Humber region and in the country as a whole. Our students’ cultural development is intimately linked with the school’s attempt to value cultural diversity, prevent racism and to deepen their understanding of the fundamental values of our British society.

 

The Promotion of British values

Our SMSC development is consistent with the expectation of maintained schools described in Ofsted’s revised inspection handbook in September 2015. Paragraph 134 of the handbook explains that the social development of pupils will be shown, in part, by their acceptance of and engagement with fundamental British values, developing and demonstrating the skills and attitudes “that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.”

Students’ understanding of these British values is developed and deepened across our curriculum, form times, assemblies, and extra-curricular provision.

• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs