Promoting British Values and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural attitudes at Castleford Park Junior Academy

Promoting British Values and SMSC at Castleford Park Junior Academy

Castleford Park Junior Academy seeks to develop confident, independent, caring and inquiring individuals who are prepared for the future. We believe in fostering life-long learning through encouraging an environment that values mutual trust and respect, honesty and equality and seeks to develop everyone’s potential. We provide excellent learning opportunities for all and celebrate the successes of individuals and the whole community as we believe spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC) underpins everything we do and this includes actively promoting British values.

How we promote Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development:

SMSC stands for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education. In our school this is not taught as a specific lesson but is part of our Religious Education, Physical Education, Personal, Social and Health Education as well as part of the ethos of the school which children experience on a daily basis. SMSC is now highlighted by the government as an essential means of promoting British values and counteracting the development of religious extremism in our communities.

We believe that the values described above help our pupils prepare for life in modern Britain. All curriculum areas provide opportunities for embedding understanding of the key concepts of SMSC and British Values. In particular, our assemblies, alongside our broad, balanced and diverse curriculum, provide excellent opportunities to deepen and develop their understanding further.

Please see the table attached which explains how we do this and evaluate the impact that we have:

SPIRITUAL

Pupils’ spiritual development is shown by their:

• beliefs, religious or otherwise, which inform their perspective on life and their interest and respect for different people’s feelings & values
• sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them
• use of imagination and creativity in their learning
• willingness to reflect on their experiences

MORAL

Pupils’ moral development is shown by their:

• ability to recognise the difference between right and wrong and the ability to apply this effectively in their own lives
• ability to understand the consequences of their actions
• ability to investigate- offering reasoned opinions about moral and ethical issues

SOCIAL

Pupils’ social development is shown by their:

• range of social skills in different contexts, including working and socialising with pupils from different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds
• willingness to participate in a variety of social settings, co-operating well with others and being able to resolve conflicts effectively and independently
• interest and understanding of the way communities and societies function at a variety of levels

CULTURAL

Pupils’ cultural development is shown by their:

• understanding and appreciation of cultural influences that have shaped their own heritage
• willingness to participate in and respond to a range of creative opportunities, such as; artistic, musical, sporting, mathematical, technological, scientific and cultural
• interest in exploring, understanding and respect for cultural diversity and being able to accept, respect and celebrate diversity, shown by their positive attitudes towards different religious, ethnic and socio-economic groups in the local, national and global communities