Strategies to support children in being both mentally and physically healthy are integrated as part of our curriculum offer. There are intentional check-ins with children built in throughout the day, but the strength of the relationships that we foster with all children enable safe adults and spaces for all. We employ local services to deliver ‘Brain Buddies’ to classes across the school to further promote the social, emotional and mental health of all. We hold an annual wellbeing week, focussed on healthy eating, healthy attitudes and support to develop emotional and physical fitness that culminates in our whole school event at Lee Valley Athletics Centre.  Over the week children take part in numerous workshops delivered by external coaches and sporting professionals; explore their wellbeing through yoga and mindfulness; hold circle times focused on self-esteem and confidence; take nature walks and take part in healthy eating cooking opportunities.   

As part of our Trauma Informed Approach, we actively teach strategies of regulation, including breathing techniques and conflict resolution.  

Safeguarding at Bush Hill Park Primary School is critical. As such, we place great emphasis on identifying opportunities within the curriculum to provide children with the tools and knowledge to keep themselves and others safe. Our broad curriculum gives children the opportunity to develop personal safeguarding both in the wider curriculum and discretely through our taught PSHE curriculum. We are sensitive in our approach and this is always taught through age-appropriate concepts and materials.  

We have developed an open and safe learning environment in which children are free to and confident in expressing their views, seeking help and helping others. 

We teach children to understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. We actively teach the PANTS rule every term to ensure that children know we value the importance of this. This is in addition to the friendships and relationships content covered as part of our PSHE curriculum.  

 We teach consent at an age-appropriate level across the school using the PANTs materials and also using every day scenarios – such as consent to share toys (EYFS).  

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/  

 

 

At Bush Hill Park Primary School, children are supported throughout all areas of their personal development. In addition to external services such as the ‘Brain Buddies’ who work across many of our classes we have a range of experts within school who support the social and emotional wellbeing of our children through a range of 1:1, group and ad-hoc sessions.  

• Speech and Language specialist 

• Welfare and Community Manager 

• In School Counsellor 

• In School Mentor 

• External ‘Boxing’ Mentor 

• ELSA mentors  

At Bush Hill Park Primary School, SMSC is at the heart of school life, embedded through the curriculum and culture that we promote. It can be seen in the day-to-day interactions of all children and adults, assemblies, extra-curricular learning, our school council and our whole school events. SMSC plays a significant role in children’s happiness, learning and achievement. At Bush Hill Park Primary School, we are a very diverse community held together by the strong vision, aims and values which are embedded in our school. We pride ourselves in providing a school environment that celebrates our entire community and recognises our differences in a positive way. As such we are proud to have been awarded Flagship status for the Inclusion Quality Mark. school. 

Spiritual

• We want our children to be reflective about their own beliefs, religious or otherwise, which inform their views on life and their interest in and respect for different people’s faiths, feelings and values. 
   
• We give children the vocabulary to understand and explore human feelings and emotions, the way they impact on people and how an understanding of them can support themselves and others. 
   
• We encourage our children to have a sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them and to be able to use their imagination and creativity in their learning and to be willing to reflect on their experiences. 
   
• We create a climate in which everyone can grow and flourish and all respect others and can expect respect in return.  

Moral 

• Our children will learn to recognise the difference between right and wrong and apply this understanding in their own lives. They will be able to recognise boundaries and, in so doing, respect rules within school and beyond and see the values in this. 
   
• The children are consistently supported with their behaviour development as they learn to navigate their own through our trauma informed approach. Children are taught from a very early age self-regulation strategies and the impact that their behaviour can have on others, including intended and unintended consequences of their actions.  
   
• We encourage the children to be interested in investigating and offering reasoned views about moral and ethical issues, so that they are able to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others on these issues. Circle Time sessions are explicitly time tabled for this.  
   
• We have developed an open and safe learning environment in which children can express their views and practise moral decision making. 
   
• We actively model through the quality of relationships and interactions, fairness, integrity, respect for others and resolution of conflict that children should expect throughout their life.  

Social 

• We want our children to be able to use a range of social skills in different contexts, for example working and socialising with other pupils, including those from different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. We provide positive collective experiences through assemblies, team experiences, residential experiences and school productions. 
   
•  Our children are encouraged to participate in a variety of community and social settings, including volunteering, co-operating well with others and being able to resolve conflicts effectively. We foster a sense of community, with common, inclusive values including our school values of respect, resilience and responsibility and we foster personal qualities that will enable children to thrive both inside and outside of the school environment. We are involved in many ongoing community projects, including an intergenerational project that links us with local care and nursing homes, community litter picking projects and community gardening projects.   
   
• The culture of the school supports the children to understand and accept the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Our trauma informed approach ensures that the children develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain. 
   
• We provide opportunities for children to engage in the democratic process and to participate in community life, such as through the school council and local volunteering projects. 

Cultural 

• Our curriculum enables our children to gain an understanding and appreciation of the wide range of cultural influences that have shaped their own heritage and that of others, primarily through our diverse curriculum offer but also through whole school events such as our annual celebration of Black History Month which culminates each year in a wider community celebration.  
   
• Children understand and appreciate the range of different cultures within school and further afield as an essential element of their preparation for life in modern Britain and they find value in the things we share in common across cultural, religious and ethnic communities. 
   
• Britain’s democratic heritage is embedded in our school culture and reference is made to this as appropriate, focusing on our rights and responsibilities as citizens within our community.  
   
• Our school culture provides a whole range of different opportunities for all children and they are expected to participate in and respond positively to artistic, musical, sporting and cultural opportunities. 
   
• The many different cultures and backgrounds found within the school enable children to explore and improve their understanding of different faiths, showing respect for each other’s faiths and celebrating the cultural diversity which is a real strength of the school. They learn to understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity, as shown by their tolerance and attitudes towards different groups of people in the local, national and global communities. 

At Bush Hill Park Primary School, we value the diversity of the backgrounds of all pupils, families and the wider community and we believe in upholding not only our school values of respect, responsibility and resilience, but also the British Values in nurturing children to become safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant adults who make a positive difference to society. 

How should we help our children prepare for adult life as citizens of Britain? 

• Develop their self-confidence and self-esteem. 

• Develop their understanding of right and wrong, and their respect for the law. 

• Encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour. 

• Encourage involvement in the community and wider society. 

• Encourage respect for the public services and institutions of Britain. 

• Promote tolerance of and respect for all cultures and faiths. 

• Encourage participation in the democratic process. 

How do we develop children’s understanding of British values at Bush Hill Park Primary School? 

We uphold the British value of Democracy by: 

• Facilitating a democratic process for electing pupil leadership roles, including school councillors and the running of the council. 

• Teaching about the democratic process in Britain, at both a local and national level. We teach about communities and pressure groups, how children can participate in these and make changes to life at all levels from local to global. 

• Taking turns in class, at dinner time and in after school clubs. 

• In upper Key Stage 2,  pupils have the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament and learn more about the democratic systems at a local and national level. 

We uphold the British value of the Rule of Law by: 

• Teaching children an understanding of human rights, in particular the UNICEF rights of the child. 

• Implementing our school and class charters which have clear and agreed statements, and ensuring that the children know their own right and respect the rights of others. 

• Teaching children to learn about the process of law-making and the part that citizens can play in that process. 

• Implementing our procedures and protocols for dealing with any behavioural or bullying issues and the very rare incidents of racial, homophobic and other forms of discrimination, which demonstrates to pupils that we take these issues very seriously, mirroring the attitudes of British society. 

We uphold the British value of individual liberty and work to identify and combat discrimination by: 

• Teaching an understanding of the concept of freedom and choice. 

• Teaching our RE curriculum, which inculcates values of understanding, tolerance and respect for others, including those of other faiths. 

• Teaching children an understanding of human rights, in particular the UNICEF rights of the child, through assemblies and class lessons. 

• Providing our extra-curricular provision, which offers equal opportunities for all children, boys and girls, and children with Special Educational Needs in sport and other areas. 

• Holding discussions in RE, English and other subjects, which allow children to develop respect for the opinions, values and beliefs of others. 

We uphold the British value of developing personal and social responsibility by: 

• Expecting children to demonstrate responsibility in many ways in school. 

• Expecting children to take responsibility in every class for a variety of roles which assist in the running of the classroom. 

• Encouraging children to have responsibility for their own possessions, behaviour and work, both at school and at home and to always do their personal best in all aspects of school life. 

• Training staff to deliver information about keeping safe on the Internet to all our children and holding information sessions for parents about this. 

We uphold the British value of respect for British Institutions by: 

• Celebrating many British festivals and special events, e.g. Remembrance Day, November 5th, Christmas, Easter, World Book Day, Children in Need, Red-nose day etc. 

• Regularly inviting representatives from various groups, such as Police, charities and the local church to visit our school and talk to the children in both lessons and assemblies. 

• Teaching about the structure and work of Parliament, keeping children informed of major and minor events which can be discussed. Teacher training and children visits to Parliament. 

In all our provision, both academic and otherwise, we endeavour for our school community to develop an understanding of British values and a strong desire to uphold them both now and as future British citizens. 

This statement has been agreed by: 

• Governors 

• Teaching and Non-teaching staff 

• School Council 

Through both assemblies and circle times children are free to further explore concepts of personal development, including personal safeguarding. They learn not to tolerate any prejudiced behaviour and children are supported with the vocabulary to express right and wrong and the confidence to speak up.

Whole school events are important to our entire community and we ensure that the children see themselves as part of the wider school community. In addition to our timetabled calendar of assemblies, delivered regularly by a member of the SLT we ensure there are opportunities for whole school events that children can take part in, these involve the whole school coming together from Nursery to Year 6 and often see parents invited to take part.  

We use assembly time to promote our school values, the British Values and our promotion of a love of reading. We celebrate wider community and world events and set the theme for discussions and activities that can carry on within the classrooms during PSHE and Circle Time.

Assembly Certificates/ Badges 

We also ensure that every Friday, KS2 and KS1 come together collectively to celebrate their achievements that week, including our weekly wonder (for significant effort in any given area), our values certificate (for demonstrating the school values) and our Star reader (for recognition of efforts with or sharing a love of reading).