St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School
Learn to love, love to learn
At St. Bernadette's Catholic School you will find us caring, hardworking and co-operative. We follow the ways of Jesus using our talents and gifts to make our school special. We show respect to all and welcome you.
Head Teacher: Angela Cowings
SEN Contact: A. Hulse
Hob Moor Road, Yardley, Birmingham, B25 8QL
0121 783 7232
Promoting British Values
The DfE have reinforced the need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
As a Catholic Primary School we believe that everyone is made and loved by God as unique individuals, made in His image. Our Mission Statement and Catholic ethos embeds the foundations of British values:
At St. Bernadette's Catholic School you will find us caring, hardworking and co-operative. We follow the ways of Jesus using our talents and gifts to make our school special. We show respect to all and welcome you.
Democracy
We encourage our children to actively take part in democratic activities, throughout the school. Each class has an annually democratically elected school councillor, who form part of the School Council which meet regularly throughout the school year.
In Year 6, pupils vote for their Head Boy and Girl. These opportunities are used as an avenue to promote and teach about the democracy and electoral process. Children in Key Stage 2 are also given the opportunity to visit the council house in Birmingham and a group of children visit Parliament and Downing Street.
Our local MP also visits school and brings their role to life through a question and answer session, annually, with Year 5 and 6 pupils.
Democracy is also taught in the curriculum (e.g. through historical research of Ancient Greek civilisation and looking at how Historical figures influenced democracy).
Pupils’ opinions are highly valued at St. Bernadette’s School and their views and ideas are sought via their school councillor and through the annual Pupil Questionnaires. The Behaviour Policy identifies both rewards and sanctions, both of which the children and parents (through our Parents’ Forum) have contributed to.
There is a strong ethos of pupils volunteering in and out of school time. This includes activities such as Nursery Prefects, school prefects, rabbit prefects, buddy partners.
adette's Catholic Primary School. We’ve created a safe and accessible environment where students are encouraged to discuss ideas, collaborate on projects, share their work and receive feedback with pride. We give students the foundation to reach their potential and gain confidence both academically and socially.
Rule of Law
The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country are constantly reinforced at St Bernadette’s.
We have high expectations of behaviour in school and this is observed throughout the school. Our behaviour policy reflects our expectations and has been influenced by pupils contributing to our school rules, rewards and sanctions.
Pupils have created an Anti-Bullying Charter, displayed in our dining hall. Pupils and parents have suggested rewards such as: behaviour badges, behaviour assemblies, Head Teacher, class and year band certificates, stationery rewards, star pupil and star table. Sanctions include missed play time or missed equipment time. Weekly discussions take place in class regarding behaviour and pupils self-evaluate their own and their peers performance and responsibility throughout the week.
Individual Liberty
At St Bernadette’s, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries from where pupils can make informed choices. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to do these safely, for example through our e-safety and PSHE lessons, Whether it be through choice of challenge, of how they record work, of participation in our numerous extra-curricular activities clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Children are taught about personal responsibility, choices, ambition and aspirations. They are encouraged to have broad horizons and the opportunities provided include, theatre visits, theatre performances, musical instrument lessons, a rich breadth of PE in and out of the curriculum and art.
Our school values its local environment and pupils are given opportunities to explore and visit the local recreation area, Eco Park and playing fields. During these visits road safety, stranger danger and life skills are reinforced.
Children are taught the importance of keeping safe and taking responsibility for their safety on line and in reality. They are given opportunities to explore this through annual Life Bus visits, regular ICT teaching, NSPCC assemblies, emergency service visits, visits to Safeside and visits from our school nurse.
Mutual Respect
Mutual respect is at the heart of our Mission Statement. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own right and the rights of others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect.
Pupils are taught to respect their school, adults, peers, other pupils and themselves through our ethos, RE and PSHE curriculum and behaviour policy. Pupils are taught to have morals and will inform staff if they feel there is discrimination evident in school.
Our school has strong links with a local school for children with a wide range of learning difficulties, encompassing moderate learning difficulties and increasingly more complex needs including autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), behavioural issues, sensory impairment and language disorders. We celebrate the breadth of talents and support the needs that our own pupils have and children are encouraged to recognise effort and achievement.
Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs
Pupils demonstrate an understanding and awareness that people in school and our community have different faiths and beliefs to the individual pupil and to the Catholic faith. They understand that these differences are part of our liberty and should not be the cause of prejudice or discriminatory behaviour.
We value our local community links and children annually visit a many places of worship. The children, each year, visit at least one place of worship. This has been timetabled so that children will visit a place of worship for each major religion by the time they leave our school. Our school celebrates and recognises many faith festivals and we encourage children and parents from a range of faith and cultural backgrounds to share experiences and knowledge with our children.
We encourage our children to interact with children from other schools, through organised activities and events.
There are clear procedures and guidance in school for pupils who demonstrate a lack of respect or racist behaviour.
