At Coopers we follow The Department for Education's guidance for all schools to embed the fundamental British values. These are expressed as:

• Democracy
• Rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Our school values fit naturally into this framework:

• Trust – we seek to trust and engage our pupils in democratic processes through pupil leadership opportunities with elections in each year group. We regularly seek feedback from our pupils to ensure they are a part of the decision making in the school.
• Respect – we foster mutual respect and acceptance of different faiths through our policies and curriculum. We model and teach our young people about the importance of self-respect and respectful relationships within the pastoral and Assembly programme.
• Resilience – we ensure that pupils are aware of the rule of law and reinforce this within our policies and the work we carrying out with our Community Liaison Police Officers. We know that doing the right thing is not always easy and use Assemblies and tutor time activities to embed a moral code within our young people.

Through the British Values and our own values, Coopers pupils actively contribute to life in modern Britain through:

•  Carrying out regular charity work and events
• Pupil and Student Leadership
• Tutor time topics
• Pupil lead assemblies
• Pupil Ambassador Programme
• Attending a variety of conferences and educational trips
• Taking part in a variety of activities such as sports events, World Challenge, Harvest festival, Black History Month, Remembrance Day assembly and service, Christmas and Easter services, school plays, concerts, cabaret, World Book Day, Holocaust Memorial and National & Internationally celebrated events.
• Entering a number of competitions working with the Chislehurst Society and Jack Petchey Awarding Body
• Duke of Edinburgh

Both our school values and our British values underpin all areas of school life and seek to use all opportunities to develop their understanding of these.

Democracy

We use democratic processes within school life to create an understanding of what these look like in action and have elections for Pupil Leadership in each Year group and seek feedback from pupils so that they voices their views on decisions that are made within the school. In addition we stage mock elections that mirror the national elections and invite local councillors and politicians in to school to discuss the key issues. We reinforce this value within our curriculum through their exploration in subjects such as History, Government and Politics and Sociology. This is further supported in PSHE, tutor time, the Assembly programme and Deep Learning Days. The key concepts of democracy are regularly explored and addressed in all subjects within our broad curriculum.

Rule of Law

The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Pupils are taught the values and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service and local Magistrates are regular parts of our school calendar and help reinforce this message.

Our pupils learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. Our staff are committed to providing a consistent and predictable environment with clear expectations and routines. An environment of this type enables pupils to feel safe and secure; this in turn, promotes the optimum conditions for learning to take place.

Individual Liberty

At Coopers pupils are actively encouraged to make independent choices knowing that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights, responsibilities and personal freedoms and receive advice about how to exercise these safely, for example through our exploration of E-Safety in computing and their tutor time activities.

Mutual Respect

Respect is at the heart of our school vision and ethos and is modelled by pupils and staff alike. The school promotes respect for others. In line with our commitment to democracy, students at Spires Academy are always able to voice their opinions and we foster an environment where students are safe to disagree with each other. Mutual respect is embraced throughout the curriculum from the concept of ‘fair play’ in PE to the Pupil Reading Mentoring programme which promotes mutual respect and support between students across different year groups within the school.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

This is achieved through equipping pupils with the ability to understand their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity within the school community. We ask our young people to accept rather than tolerate different faiths and beliefs.

We also run a number of trips to other countries throughout the academic year from which our pupils gain valuable experience of other cultures and languages. Pupils are actively encouraged to share their faith and beliefs within the school and are explicitly taught the principles of Religious Studies through “The World Around Us” in Tutor time and additional Deep Learning days. This provides a balanced education on a range of faiths, religions and cultures.

Coopers School works to promote positive values through:

• Promoting a broad and balanced Curriculum
• Social, Moral, Cultural, Spiritual Development
• Personal, Social and Health Education
• Promoting British Values.