Vision and Values
Our Vision:
A world-class inclusive school at the beating heart of its community.
Our Motto:
For life, not school, we learn.
Our Values:
Honesty, Equity, Aspiration, Respect and Tenacity.
Promotion of British Values
Villiers High School is committed to serving its community. We recognise the multi-cultural, multi-faith and changing nature of the United Kingdom and our community. The school promotes equal opportunities for all and systems are in place that counter: racism, sexism and all other forms of discrimination whenever they occur.
The following British Values are covered in the curriculum.
- Democracy
- Rule of Law
- Individual Liberty
- Respect
- Tolerance
These values are also covered through SMSC, assemblies and curriculum provision to:
- enable pupils to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
- enable pupils to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England;
- encourage pupils 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;
- further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling pupils to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures;
- encourage respect for other people; and
- 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.
Pupils learn about the development of the political system of democratic government in the UK, including the roles of citizens, Parliament and the monarch. They are taught about voting and elections, the role of political parties and the freedoms and liberties enjoyed by the citizens of the UK such as free speech, free movement and free assembly and worship. Pupils are provided with the opportunity of becoming members of Year Council and School Council.
Through our Religious Education and PSHE and Citizenship programmes, pupils are taught how citizens work together to improve communities. This is put into practice when they become active citizens e.g. by fundraising for charities.
Assemblies aim to teach our pupils to have belief in freedom, and a tolerance of others. In the Religious Education programme, pupils study other faiths and learn empathy, tolerance and understanding of people from different faith backgrounds.
Interwoven throughout the whole taught Curriculum and the school’s pastoral programme, pupils are expected to accept personal and social responsibility, respecting and upholding the school rules and the rule of law.
In our school community we encourage our students to show a responsibility to each other and adults in the way they behave in school and on their way to and from school.
The list below describes the understanding and knowledge expected of our pupils as a result of promoting fundamental British values:
- an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
- an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
- 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;
- an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
- an 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;
- an understanding of the importance of identifying and combating discrimination.
We are a diverse multi-ethnic school and we encourage respect for religious, cultural and moral values.