The requirement to promote British values
In June 2014, the then secretary of state for
education, Michael Gove, announced that schools
would be required to promote British values from
September 2014.
The move followed concerns about a perceived
promotion of strict Islamist values in some schools
in Birmingham
Dfe Document: Promoting fundamental
British values as part of SMSC in schools
Departmental advice for maintained schools
November 2014
The main points of this advice are to make clear:
• that maintained schools should promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural
(SMSC) development;
• what is expected of schools in promoting fundamental British values; and
• how this aligns with schools’ duty to promote SMSC.
Through ensuring pupils’ SMSC development, schools can also demonstrate they are
actively promoting fundamental British values.
The guidance has examples of actions that schools can take. This includes:
•Ensuring that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and
demonstrating how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes such
as a school council whose members are voted for by the pupils
•Using teaching resources from a wide variety of sources to help pupils understand a
range of faiths
What British Values IS NOT
Examples of actions that a school can take
• include in suitable parts of the curriculum, as appropriate for the age of pupils,
material on the strengths, advantages and disadvantages of democracy, and how
democracy and the law works in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in
other countries;
• ensure that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and
demonstrate how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes such
as a school council whose members are voted for by the pupils;
• use opportunities such as general or local elections to hold mock elections to
promote fundamental British values and provide pupils with the opportunity to learn
how to argue and defend points of view;
• use teaching resources from a wide variety of sources to help pupils understand a
range of faiths, and
• consider the role of extra-curricular activity, including any run directly by pupils, in
promoting fundamental British values.
Ideas to promote BV in
Sutton Manor Primary
In your year groups – think about what you already
do during the year that already ticks some British
Values boxes.
What else could you add either as a year group or
whole school to enhance our SMSC/ British Values
work in school?
What next?
 Teachers need to be aware of when they are
planning for/ teaching aspects of SMSC / British
Values – it’s already there!
 All staff working in school need to provide positive
role models and exploit opportunities to promote
SMSC / BV
 SMSC Policy to include British Values
 Monitoring of SMSC in planning/ lessons/ work in
books
 Collecting evidence in a central ‘file.’ Evidence to
include staff / Gov feedback, lesson plans, photos,
children’s work, video clips, minutes from meetings,
school council involvement………
Schools ‘already promote British values’
Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College
Leaders (ASCL), is quoted by the BBC as saying:
For the vast majority of schools, this will make no difference to what they're doing,
because they're already engaged in this agenda.
Classroom teachers will continue to do what they always have done, which is
developing young people to work together as a community, whether that's as a
teaching group or a school.