British Values Statement
At The Heights Academy we ensure that through our vision, values, curriculum and teaching we promote tolerance and respect for all cultures, faiths and lifestyles. We have a duty to prepare our children for life in modern Britain and to keep them safe. As a school we value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all pupils and families; we undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. We believe this approach to be enriching for all parties as it teaches tolerance and respect for the differences in our community and the wider world. Underpinning all this are a range of curriculum topics which have strong links to British History.
The Heights Academy is committed to serving its community and surrounding areas. We recognise the multi-cultural, multi-faith nature of the United Kingdom and understand the crucial role our academy plays in promoting these values.
Through our provision we:
- Enable students to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
- Enable students to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England;
- Encourage students to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely;
- Enable students to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England;
- Further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling students to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures;
- Encourage respect for other people;
- Encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England
- Promote an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
- Encourage an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
- Promote an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
- Teach an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
- Encourage acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and
- Teach an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination.