Respect and tolerance key British values

Monday 01st December 2014 17:20 EST
 

The advice is aimed at head teachers and governors at maintained schools. Most "will find they have been actively promoting British values for years", said heads' leader Russell Hobby.
The push for schools to boost British values was among a series of proposals in the wake of the so called Trojan Horse allegations about a group of schools in Birmingham.
In June, the then education secretary Michael Gove, said pupils must be made aware of fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of different beliefs. His views were backed by the Prime Minister.
Publishing the advice, the Department for Education, said the requirement for schools to promote British values is already set out in the 2002 Education Act.
In particular, the guidance emphasises that pupils should be encouraged to understand that "while different people may hold different views about what is right and wrong, all people living in England are subject to its law".
Schools' ethos and teaching "should support the rule of English civil and criminal law and schools should not teach anything that undermines it".
The guidance urges schools to take particular care to ensure pupils understand the difference between the law of the land and religious law.
The guidance says schools must meet requirements for a daily act of collective worship, but they should also ensure pupils understand that freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law. Having another faith should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour, it explains.
Pupils should also learn how citizens can influence decision making though the democratic process and how power in Britain is separated between the executive (government) and the judiciary.


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