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British Values

British Values and Christian Values

The requirement for schools to prepare pupils for modern life with a focus on British values is relatively new, but Church schools

have long been familiar with the need to articulate their fundamental Christian values.  Both sets of values overlap and one can

clearly argue that the government’s stated British values have emerged from Britain’s long history as a Christian nation.    

The key Christian beliefs that underpin both Christian Values and British values are that: 

  • God is a God of order, and that his world should reflect a sense of purpose, not chaos
  • Every person is made in the image of God, known, loved and valued as a unique creation.
  • Humans are designed to be interdependent, supporting others and being supported, like a body with many parts.
  • The Bible provides laws to govern human affairs, but these also show up human weakness and the need for forgiveness 
  • The greatest command is to LOVE – God, oneself, one’s neighbour, and even one’s enemy – and, for a Christian, to love as Christ loved us.         

In our Church of England British

values should cause us to ask:

Teaching about British Values relates to our growing understanding of Christian Values such as:

Remembering what Chris tians believe, and putting it into practice, helps us understand British values better…

Here are some examples of things in school which help develop understanding of British Values. What would you ‘lose’ or ‘add’? What specifically Christian things could be included?

Democracy

How do we give everyone an equal right to be heard and a shared responsibility to play a positive part in our school community?

  • Justice
  • Responsibility
  • Trust
  • Service 
  • Respect
  • Courage
  • Truthfulness

Humans are inter-dependent and everyone has a role to play.  For Christians, our role is to be part of a body, working together and governed by Christ, the head of the ‘body’.

  • having a school council
  • debating competitions
  • Circle time
  • highlighting the development of democratic ideas in history lessons 
  • voting for house or sport captains  
  • ensuring all pupils are listened to by adults  
  • inviting MPs and other speakers to the school  
  • holding mock elections at election time  
  • encouraging service to the school and to the community as a whole e.g. litter pick

The Rule of Law

How do we help all members of the school community understand the idea that the right rules permit well-being, safety and harmony?

  • Justice
  • Responsibility
  • Trust
  • Forgiveness
  • Respect
  • Wisdom
  • Peace

Christians respect the Ten Commandments, and other laws in the Bible, which  model right ways to live.  They know rules are hard to keep and that they reveal a human propensity to sin or shortcomings.  They speak of God’s mercy and forgiveness but know they should not use this as an excuse to break laws.

  • Having a clear behaviour policy understood by all understanding rules in various aspects of school life e.g. in the playground / playing sports organising visits from the police / bike ability highlighting God’s rules in RE e.g. 10 commandments, Jesus’ 2 great commands (love of God and neighbour), in relation to everyday events linking moral values to aspects of civic and political life happening in the news

Individual Liberty

How do we enable every individual in our school community to act on the belief that they have dignity and freedom as a unique and valued individual?

  • Responsibility
  • Service
  • Respect
  • Wisdom
  • Hope
  • Creativity
  • Courage

The Bible portrays humans as individuals free to make their own choices about life and be haviour; this includes the ability to choose to do wrong. Humans are not robots but made in the ‘image of God’, able to make decisions, to choose to love and do right; this freedom brings risks and responsibilities.

  • Encouraging students to be independent and creative in their learning
  • Providing students with opportunities for personal reflection, discussing moral issues in PSHE, History and RE which will be recorded in class spiritual journals  

Mutual Respect

How do we reward the ability to see the good in others and the use of positive words, attitudes and actions which build up all in our school community?

  • Respect
  • Friendship
  • Humility
  • Forgiveness Perseverance Thankfulness
  • Generosity

Jesus said the two great commands were to love God and love your neighbour as you love yourself. It is important to understand our own value as those created and loved by God; and then to realise that others are also created in God’s image and valued by him. We should strive to see not just the best in others but to see ‘God’ in others. We should love one another as Christ has loved us. St Paul encourages Christians in his letters to use our words and actions to build others up, not pull them down or apart.

  • having a mission statement that is inclusive promoting respect in all personal interactions reinforcing the value of everyone’s opinions in class de bates
  • having an effective anti‐bullying policy emphasising in RE and PSHE the belief that every person is unique (“created in the image of God”)
  • Having active educational links with other schools, including pupils of different cultural backgrounds
  • supporting charities but not in such a way as to encourage feelings of superiority / inferiority between donor and recipients participating in a range of social activities and educational visits in the community valuing different ways of communicating – really listening
  • valuing the home and cultural backgrounds of learners understanding the concepts of privacy and “personal space”
  • being a place of hospitality

Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

How do we actively celebrate diversity in our school community, modelling tolerance, and the ability to listen with respect and to disagree without rancour?

  • Respect
  • Friendship
  • Compassion
  • Humility
  • Peace
  • Trust
  • Forgiveness

Bible teaches that we are all unique creations loved by God. It follows that because we are unique, we are not all alike and have to learn to live with difference.

Everyone has a right to dignity and respect as a human being but that does not mean that all ideas are equally right or good.

  • highlighting on the school website how RE
  • provides learning about the beliefs and traditions of religious communities as a basis for understanding and respecting them
  • making RE a valued and popular subject, promoting it with staff, pupils and parents, and resourcing it well
  • showing how Jesus encouraged love for those others rejected in his life and teachings (e.g. Parable of the Good Samaritan)

 

 

Christians should speak up for what is right and not tolerate in justice. Where people differ in culture, there is room for joy in diversity.

Where there is difference in belief and faith, there is always room for love and respect even if agreement is not possible.

  • ensuring debate about the meaning of ‘tolerance’ and ‘tolerate’
  • offering practice for pupils in learning how to disagree well
  • showing respect on visits to places of worship and in Collective Worship
  • meeting and interacting well with a wide
  • variety of people from different contexts and sharing experiences with them e.g. picnics, sports events, art days

 

Some additional questions to consider

How explicit are Christian values in the life of the school?

Are you certain that visitors to your classrooms and collective worship leaders uphold your school values in their words and interactions?

Are opportunities taken in all subjects and every aspect of school life for pupils to embrace the school values?

Does teaching allow pupils to develop the skills that equip them to challenge when the school values are not upheld?

And finally remember Christianity can also be counter‐cultural e.g. expressing disquiet with the materialism and moral culture of Britain / being a worldwide faith with an international perspective / challenging action in the name of love and justice (but not with violence) to make the community better. So perhaps in our schools we can also encourage a dialogue in our staffrooms and in relating to pupils, parents and others, just as in the New Testament the Early Church modelled some of those ideas that are important for democracy ‐ shared living, discussion, debate and dialogue.

The Bible and British Values    

Bible passages and stories link to the British value headings and are used in lessons and collective worship.

Democracy  
  • “See I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction now choose life that you and your children may live.” Deuteronomy 30 v1519  
  • Calling the disciples Matthew 4 v1821  
  • The quarrel about who should sit at Jesus right and left hand in heaven Matthew 20 v2023  
Rule of Law  
  • “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”  Romans 13 v1 
  • Jesus teaches about the law Matthew 5 v1720  
  • Paying taxes to Caesar Luke 20 v2125  
  • Be “in” the world not “of” the world Isaiah 2,3,11  
  • The wisdom of Solomon 1 Kings 3 v1628  
  • Zacchaeus Luke 9 v110  
  • Moses and the Ten Commandments Exodus 20 v120  
  • Jesus’ new commandment John 13 v 34  
Individual liberty  
  • Christ has set us free Galatians 5 v 1  
  • The truth sets us free John 8 v 32  
  • Adam and Eve-free to do wrong Genesis 2,3  
  • Ten Lepers freed from the constraints of their illness Luke 17 v 1119  
  • Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane debating duty Matthew 26 v 3646  
  • The rich young man imprisoned by his own riches Matthew 19 v 1622  
  • The two builders and choosing your lifestyle Matthew 7 v 24-27  
  • Zacchaeus Luke 19 v110 
Mutual respect 
  • Be devoted to one another, love one another above yourselves Romans 12 v 10  
  • We are made in the image of God Genesis 1vs 27  
  • Good Samaritan freely helps his enemy Luke 10 v 2937  
  • Creation is good Genesis1  
  • The soldier’ s unexpected faith in a “subject” teacher Luke 7  v  110  
  • Mary and Martha, the importance of listening to others Luke 10 3841  
  • Jesus washed the disciples feet like the lowliest servant John 3  v 120  
  • Story of Ruth, respect for relatives and for the poor Ruth 14  
Tolerance of different cultures and religions  
  • Do not judge others and you will not be judged Matthew 7 v 1  
  • Naaman learns respect for other nations 2 Kings 5   
  • Good Samaritan Luke 10 v 2937  
  • Jesus and the children his disciples tried to push away Matthew 19 v 1315  
  • The woman at the well, despised by her village yet Jesus gets into a theological debate with her John 4 v 126