St. Mary's Church of England Primary School, West Derby is a caring, Christian Community. We seek to create a stable, secure and happy environment in which children are able to develop to their maximum potential. Each child has a valuable contribution to make to the life of the school. We celebrate their talents, skills and achievements. We believe in inspiring children in their learning to reach their full potential.

“The school’s Christian vision, ‘Rooted in faith, nurtured in love, striving for success, growing God’s children’ underpins collective worship, religious education (RE) and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development. It makes a significant contribution to pupils’ very good behaviour and to their positive attitudes to learning.”

SIAMS Inspection : July 2017

At St. Mary's C of E Primary School we uphold and teach pupils about British Values which are defined as:

• democracy
• rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE). We also teach British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.

The school takes opportunities to actively promote British Values through daily collective worship and whole school systems and structures such as electing and running a successful Junior Leadership Team. We also actively promote British values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values.

At St. Mary's C of E Primary School, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy:

Democracy is an important value at our school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council, daily class based opportunities and pupil voive. The elections of members of the School Council are based on pupil votes.  

The Rule of Law:

The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days. Our system for behaviour is aligned to an agreed set of codes and if children are given verbal warnings this is always set against the agreed school behaviour code.

Children are asked to identify which aspect of the code they have broken to ensure that this connection is made and understood. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken.  Visits from authorities such as the police, fire service etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.

To encourage and promote good behaviour, attitude and work, we have devised a reward system which is consistently followed throughout the school.

We are committed to praising children’s efforts.  We endeavour to praise the children informally, individually, during group work, in front of the whole class and the whole school.  Children are rewarded not only for achievement in curriculum areas, but for behaviour and general adherence to the St. Mary's expectations.

Rewards are given in the form of stickers, team points, house points and certificates.  Children’s achievements are also recognised during Celebration Assemblies.

Individual Liberty :

Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices at our school, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and planned curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our e-Safety teaching. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, e.g. signing up for extra-curricular clubs.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance of Those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

Mutual Respect:

Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy are based around core Christian values such as ‘respect’ and ‘responsibility’ and these values determine how we live as a community at St. Mary's C of E Primary School. Collective Worship is based on ‘Christian Values for Life’ which are central to how we expect everyone to go about their life at our school.  Our SIAMS inspection confirms this is a good aspect of life at St. Mary's C of E Primary School.

Tolerance of Those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity in our local community which is by large white British.  Collective Worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. We use opportunities such as the Olympics and World Cup to study and learn about life and culture in countries around the world.