At Holy Family we recognise the importance of ensuring students succeed academically whilst positively preparing them for life in modern Britain. Part of our role in that preparation is ensuring that we promote and reinforce British values to our students.

According to Ofsted British values are:

• Democracy;
• The rule of the law;
• Individual liberty;
• Mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.

In addition, as of 1 July 2015, schools now have a legal duty to prevent pupils from becoming radicalised.

British values are promoted through SMSC (spiritual, moral, social cultural) in school. Holy Family has been graded outstanding for SMSC. In addition the following illustrates an indication of some of the many ways we seek to embed British values at Holy Family and should be seen as indication of our approach rather than an exhaustive list.

What are British values at Holy Family?

• Democracy: Britain is a democracy – this means that the people in Britain vote for the people who make the laws and decide how the country is run. If we didn’t have a democracy, just one person might be able to make all the laws and that would not be fair. At Holy Family we vote for members of the school council and we explore the principles of democracy in lessons, tutor time and assemblies.
• The rule of law: Laws help to protect us in class, in school and the country as a whole. We are aware of the consequences when rules are broken at Holy Family. These are reinforced consistently throughout regular school days. Visits from local authorities such as the Police and Fire Service are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.
• Individual liberty: In Britain, as long as we do not break the law, we can live as we choose to and have our own opinions about things. In school everyone has the right to learn and the right to be safe and secure. It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure we enjoy our rights. An example of this is through our exploration of E-Safety in ICT and in form time activities.
• Mutual respect: We might not always agree with other people, but in school we show respect for their thoughts and feelings and we expect other people to show us respect. In form time we promote mutual respect by having vertical form groups where students across different year groups work to support each other.
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs: In Britain we accept that other people might have different beliefs than ours and they may believe in different religions or no religion. In school we learn about different cultures and religions and sometimes students go on visits and residential trips to gain valuable experience of other cultures and languages.

ASDAN is offered as an option subject at the start of year 10 to those students who have difficulty accessing the mainstream curriculum. ASDAN is a nationally recognised qualification which offers imaginative ways of accrediting young people's activities; building on a wide range of personal qualities, abilities and achievements of young people, as well as introducing them to new activities and challenges.

Before and after-school literacy and numeracy sessions are offered to students every morning from 8am and on Monday evenings.