What are British values?

Oftsed states that British values are:

• democracy
• the rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith

At St Margaret’s CofE Junior School we promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education, incorporating fundamental British values. This permeates the school’s entire curriculum and supports the development of the whole child. We meet daily for an act of collective worship, establishing weekly themes that support our school ethos of both Christian and British values. These themes are supported by effective relationships throughout the school. Children are taught a variety of traditional British hymns and carols and perform these in Collective as well as at traditional church services. We follow guidance set out in the DfE’s document ‘Promoting fundamental values as part of SMSC in schools’.

At St Margaret’s CE Junior School, we work hard to develop our pupils’ values and attitudes. British values are promoted by all the staff and provide a model of behaviour for our pupils. They are embedded in all areas of the curriculum; planning reflects opportunities to develop our pupils’ understanding of each strand of British values regularly. Additionally we celebrate national days such as Remembrance Day, St George’s Day, the Queen’s Jubilee and birthday, etc.

‘The school council went to the Houses of Parliament in London on Tuesday. Firstly, when we arrived in London and got off the coach, we were met by an education officer who explained that we had to go through security (just like at an airport) and the rules of visiting parliament. We were each given a pair of headphones so we could hear the education officers touring us around during the day.’ (Lara)

‘The robe room was decorated in three colours: green (for the House of Commons); red (for the House of Lords); gold (for the monarchy). At the end of this room was a throne with the letters VR on it. This stands for Victoria Regina which is Latin for these initials. The letters VR appear all over the Parliament rooms.’ (Hetansh)

Next, we entered the House of Lords with this big gold tower in it. Every year at the state opening of parliament, the King sits here.  All the seats in the House of Lords are red.

Then we climbed lots of stairs to get to the public seating for the House of Commons. This is where MPs like Matt Western debate and their seats are green. We watched MPs having a debate – isn’t that cool! (Lara)

‘My favourite part of the visit was visiting the House of Lords and the House of Commons as they were both very fancy and it’s also where they debate the bills that will eventually become laws.’ (Ruhanni)

The sequence of making a law goes like this: The people of Britain vote the MPs into power and they sit in the House of Commons. This is where a new law starts. An MP writes a bill (that’s an idea for a new law) which is discussed in the House of Commons, it is then sent to the Lords to discuss. Then they send suggestions about it back to the Commons who amend the bill and discuss it again. Then it goes back to the House of Lords again. This can go on for 13 months. They call this ‘Parliamentary Ping-pong’ because it’s like batting it backwards and forwards like a game of ping-pong! When it is finally decided the King has to sign it then it is officially the law. (Isla)

After the trip, the School Councillors spoke with our Chair of Governors about the experience. The children told her:

• The function of parliament to talk through bills and pass laws.  One child explained that the members of the House of Lords came from different backgrounds and had expertise in different areas.

• How laws pass between the House of Commons and the House of Lords until they are agreed.

• The role of the House of Lords and why they review the laws before they are passed.  We talked about how at school they review and edit their work to make sure it is the best it can be.

• How to become an MP and who our MP is.

• Green and red seating in each chamber.

• The importance of being able to vote - that it makes it fair.

• The King and his role.  We talked about the Civil War and that the first King Charles met a sticky end (they knew he had his head "chopped off").

• How our schools operate systems of voting for school councillors and a voice to create their own rules for their classrooms.

• Why it is important that we have rules and laws at school and in the country.  They had a good understanding of why this is and how we all have responsibility to be our best for our own sakes and that of others in our community.

We talked about the things they saw that impressed them:

• Thrones 

• Robing Room

• Statue of Queen Victoria

"They were brilliant and I loved listening to them.  What an experience, and one that I am sure they will remember.  Thanks to everyone who made it happen." 

VE DAY - 80 Years after the end of World War II in Europe - 8^th May 2025

Remembering those who fought in the war and celebrating Victory in Europe Day

8th May 1945.

The children made a timeline of country changing events during and after World War II. They highlighted events such as VE Day, VJ Day and the development of the NHS as being three key events that have effected the way in which we live in the UK today.

We all thoroughly enjoyed having an afternoon picnic in the sunshine to commemorate VE Day. This rounded off a week of activities aimed at helping the children to understand the importance of VE Day.

The children in Year 6 collected information and created a quiz. Their detailed answers demonstrated their embedded knowledge of World War II and learning about VE Day.

Visit from our local MP - October 2022

Our local MP, Matt Weston, visited St Margaret’s on Friday 21st October. Matt is a very keen cyclist, completing many charity cycle rides, and he visited the Federation to check out the success of our local Cycle Bus. He was highly impressed by this provision that provides families a healthy option for travelling to school.

Matt also attended our St Margaret’s Diwali Day worship sessions, where he learned about the importance of collective worship for our multi-cultural church school and also took questions from representatives from our School Council. The school community learned more about the importance of the British Value of Democracy. Matt was quick to put some very positive feedback about his visit on his social media and we look forward to welcoming him back to St Margaret’s really soon.

During his visit, Matt explained that he is an advocate for pupil voice and supporting young people to become agents of change. He encouraged the children to contact him should they ever wish him to raise questions in the House of Commons. Classes across the school will be considering how they can utilise our local MP’s support as part of their courageous advocates projects and curriculum work this year.

Planting trees to commemorate the Queen's Jubilee - April 2022

Some of our Year 3 and 4 gardeners helped the local rotary club to plant a tree as part of the Queen's Green Canopy. This is part of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations. You can follow this link to find a map of all the trees planted to create this canopy.

'The Queen's Green Canopy - St Margaret's Virtual Plaque'

'Plant a tree for the Jubilee'

Judicial Law Presentation - November 2021

Parliament Live with Matt Western MP

Every class took part in this online live session with the Education Team at the Houses of Parliament with a Q&A with Matt Western MP at the end.