Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Education (SMSC) and British Values

At Mawsley Primary School, our key ethos has always been to consider the needs of our children as a whole person – not to educate them solely on their academic needs and physical needs but to consider their feelings of self-worth, security and community spirit. We pride ourselves in supporting our children to become valuable, thoughtful and well-rounded citizens and we use a wide range of educational opportunities to ensure that our academic and citizenship education go hand in hand.​

In line with the New Curriculum the DfE have produced new terminology and guidance for what was previously known as Citizenship Education. This new vocabulary is now becoming embedded within our already established spiritual, moral, social and cultural curriculum. The major new term in our learning is ‘British Values’ – this encompasses democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith. Below is a breakdown of how we deliver S.M.S.C concepts to our children.

Developing self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence

We hold the value high that anyone is capable of achieving anything and even within our own school motto – ‘Think it, learn it, believe it, ACHIEVE IT’ – the children are given the message that if they have confidence and self-belief they are able to achieve. Praise and recognition is a key part of our curriculum which promotes the children’s self-esteem and self-confidence. From our weekly achievement assemblies to termly values awards as well as attendance certificates and learning points, the children are always made aware of how much we value their efforts. This is not just in terms of their academic performances in lessons and progress within curriculum subjects but also their ability to be resilient, persistent and determined when they face challenging situations, being cooperative and kind towards others and respectful towards people and resources.​

Over the years there have been many curriculum activities at MCP to promote self-esteem and confidence. Here are just a few of the most recent:

• Norfolk residential (Year 3)
• Charterhouse, Mendip Hills residential (Year 6)
• Careers Day (whole school)
• Grandparent's Day 
• Prom in the Park
• Mawsley Art Exhibition

Historically, we were proud to offer our children an Olympic project (whole school) in 2012, that mirrored sporting opportunities offered in the 2012 Olympic Games. Most notably, one of our former pupils, Shea Gilder, who was at our school in 2012, stated that he would like to represent Great Britain himself one day. He has since been successful at representing Great Britain in the sport of Water Polo. We are proud of this school-inspired legacy of learning. 

Distinguishing Between Right and Wrong

Being a community primary school we are always supporting and educating our children about how to be good citizens which obviously includes choosing to make the right decisions and distinguishing between what the right and wrong choices are, both at school and in their lives outside school. We all promote and follow The Golden Rules which form the basis of our everyday interactions around school. The rules are all phrased in a positive manner e.g. ‘Be Ready, Be safe, Be respectful’, and where children have made the right choices they are rewarded with incentives such as learning points and stickers. There are also consequences to breaking the golden rules such as speaking to a senior member of staff.

 

Making a Positive Contribution to Society

We pride ourselves on our children’s ability to respond positively in the wider community and are frequently praised, when the children are taken on trips, and to sporting events and competitions outside of school, on how well-behaved and well-mannered Mawsley children are. As a school we aim to involve the local community in our school family and invite a wide range of the community to our school events such as the aforementioned Prom in the Park and Art Exhibition. Our local nursery is often invited to Key Stage 1 events such as sports day and Christmas shows.

Within our RE curriculum we also focus on communities and have school-designed units which cover charitable work. This year’s in particular, was one very close to our hearts as the children in Year 6 decided to raise money for their classmate to provide a motorised wheelchair for him. The Team Tom project was inspiring and involved the whole community and definitely gave the children a clear purpose – the contribution they made was not just positive but heartfelt!

Promoting Tolerance and Harmony Between Our Own and Other Cultures

Being a village location has meant that our curriculum has always been very carefully planned to ensure we embrace a wide range of cultures, and teach our children about the differences and similarities in British customs and traditions and those from other faiths and cultures. Within our school family, we have a wide range of nationalities and are very lucky to be able to have visitors from other religions and countries come in and talk to our children first-hand about their experiences. Below is just a sample of the multi-cultural visitors and the events they have talked about at Mawsley:

• Chinese New Year
• Hinduism – Divali/Holi
• Italian, Greek and Turkish visitors to talk about the Mediterranean
• Sikhism – The Five K’s
• Islam – Muslim traditions​

Respecting others

Respect is a key part of our ethos at Mawsley. Respect is one of our key values which is commended for individual children who become role-models within their classes. Not only respect for each other but other faiths, cultures and even respect for property and other people’s time. Our children also take part in philosophy lessons each week which teaches them the vocabulary of respect – they learn how to discuss and debate a range of philosophical, moral and topical issues respectfully with one another.​

We also aim to teach our children to respect how our own liberty and culture has grown through our own British history, holding events like Grandparents Day and Remembrance Day to help us celebrate and appreciate our own heritage.

Participation in Democracy

The annual election of the Pupils' Parliament is the most important type of participation in democracy our children experience at MCP. Two representatives from Year One to Year Six are voted for and then additionally the children vote for their school Prime Minister and Deputy. Through this process, the children get the opportunity to explore first-hand the processes they will go through when they are older – in the Key Stage 2 classes discussions are linked back to our country’s democracy and we explore some of the actual Members of Parliament including local councillors. Pupils' Parliament have previously had the opportunity to meet with our former local M.P. and hear what his job entailed and discussed local issues with him. Our children have also previously travelled to the Houses of Parliament and spent the day exploring the meaning of democracy and how it works in the wider world. The Mawsley Parish Council have also on various occasions asked our Pupil’s Parliament to work with them to explore how Mawsley could be developed for the children.

Preparing Our Children for Life in Modern Britain

At Mawsley Community Primary School we are aware of our responsibility to prepare our children for life in modern Britain through curriculum experiences and activities. In every year group, in age appropriate ways, we use our opportunities for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development as the main way to teach and discuss the British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths. We also use our R.E. and P.S.H.E. lessons to provide many and varied opportunities to develop and deepen understanding. Our children embrace these concepts and through their actions and comments demonstrate how they are applying these values in their lives.

At Mawsley Primary we work hard to ensure children are given exposure to many experiences in school, the local community and further afield to develop their learning in this area and also to show these values in action, for example when attending sporting competitions with other schools in the county, going on education visits both within and out of Northamptonshire and when participating in activities on residential trips.