At Blaby Stokes CE Primary School, we encourage our children to take an interest in national and international news events and sometimes these are used as a stimulus for learning in the classroom. Children often watch News programmes within classes and discuss current affairs. We also enjoy celebrating events of special significance, such as Remembrance Day, the Olympics, the European or World Cup, Royal events and various charity days such as red nose day or Children in Need. 

Democracy

Democracy is embedded throughout our school.

• Pupils have the opportunity to air their opinions and ideas through our Rights Respecting School Ambassadors.
• Each Key Stage 2 class elects Rights Respecting School Ambassadors representatives through a democratic process. 
• Our PSHE programme teaches children to listen carefully and show concern for each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard.
• Our pupils are taught the importance of respecting themselves and others around them, their environment and property.
• Our behaviour policy places an emphasis on rewarding good behaviour and encouraging children to think carefully about their actions and the impact they have on those around them.

The Rule of Law

The importance of laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, is consistently reinforced through our curriculum, behaviour system and assemblies.

• At the start of each school year every class discusses the school rules and sets their own class rules within this framework. This helps to ensure the rules are clearly understood by all, and that every pupil is able to learn in a safe environment.
• We set high standards for the behaviour of our pupils both in school and during off-site trips and visits.
• Our behaviour system teaches pupils that the wrong choices and rule-breaking have consequences, and rewards children who make good choices and follow the rules.
• Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service are included in our curriculum and help reinforce that laws of the land are in place to protect us.

Freedom / Individual Liberty

We provide opportunities for our pupils to make choices, within the boundaries of a safe environment and an empowering education.

• Our PSHE curriculum supports the development of self-awareness, self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example by embedding safety in our ICT curriculum.
• Pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for their own behaviour, linking rights with responsibilities.
• We offer a range of extra-curricular activities which give pupils choices about how to extend their learning and development beyond the core curriculum.
• Pupils are also given the opportunity to be engaged in their learning by regular self-assessment of their work.

Mutual Respect

Respect is one of the core values of our school at Blaby Stokes CE Primary School. Pupils are actively taught and encouraged to care about other people’s feelings as well as their own.

• Pupils are taught our core values through religious education, assemblies, PSHE lessons and school rules.
• Additional support is provided for individual pupils with special educational needs through one-to-one support and nurture groups where appropriate.
• Our pupils are taught to respect the school environment and property, as well as respecting themselves and everyone else around them.
• All adults within school adopt a restorative practice approach when dealing with issues and conflicts to encourage children to see things from other people’s points of view. 
• We celebrate awards and achievements gained from both school and outside school activities during regular award assemblies.

Tolerance of those with Different Faiths and Beliefs

Blaby Stokes promotes understanding and tolerance towards people of all cultures and faiths. 

• Our curriculum embraces teaching of other cultures, faiths and beliefs, and helps children to acquire an understanding of and respect for their own and other cultures and ways of life through geography, art, music, history and religious education.
• We have regular whole school acts of worship and visits from a range of external speakers including local churches and other religious groups.
• We teach our pupils through PHSE lessons and assemblies that tolerance means that we get on with other people even though we don’t agree with them. We decide that being different is ok.
• Our sporting activities promote an attitude of equality and fairness.

Our school takes an interest in national and international news events and sometimes these are used as a stimulus for cross curricular work. Children often use Picture News and Newsround within classes and discuss current affairs. We also enjoy celebrating events of special significance, such as Remembrance Day, the Olympics, the World Cup, Royal occasions and Children in Need.