British Values

Fundamental British Values at Kate Greenaway

At Kate Greenaway we recognise the importance of supporting children to develop the skills and attitudes that will enable them to thrive and contribute positively to society as they grow. Outlined below are some of the ways in which we seek to engender these values in children (whether seen as specifically British or more generally).

Democracy: making decisions together

We encourage conversation and thinking about right and wrong, about feelings, about what it means to be part of a group, about our personal preferences and how these might be different from our friends.

We encourage children in their collaborative play, in sharing ideas and in negotiating when there is conflict.

Where appropriate, we support children to use a simple voting system to make collective decisions (such as what to name our chicks).

Rule of law: understanding rules matter

We work hard to ensure that routines and boundaries are consistently and fairly applied. We take time to explain the reasons behind our decisions to children and acknowledge the feelings children may experience as a result, for example ’you’re feeling cross because I said that it was someone else’s turn on the bike’.

Our interaction with children when boundaries have been crossed focuses on the consequences (for example how another child is feeling) and what actions we would like to see in the future.

Because we recognise that children’s self-identity is being formed through their interactions with others at nursery, we are careful to address the behaviour rather than the child. For example, we do not describe children as ‘naughty’ because in the long term it benefits no-one if they come to see themselves as such.

Individual liberty: freedom for all

At Kate Greenaway we have a strong ethos of supporting children’s independence and problem solving. We do this by giving children lots of opportunities to make decisions and do things for themselves, sensitively scaffolding the support we give as they master new skills. As a team we think about whether we’re interacting or interfering. We recognise the importance of children developing a ‘can-do’ attitude- the resilience and confidence to persevere with challenges and take pride in their achievements. We recognise that during their early years, children are developing a powerful sense of self. We want to contribute to good self-esteem for all our children.

We encourage children to talk about their feelings and think about the feelings of others. We ask questions such as ‘How could we help Alia to feel better?’.

We give children small tasks, such as at tidy up time, and recognise their contributions to the group. We differentiate our activities so that children can experience challenge and success in their play.

Mutual respect and tolerance: treat others as you want to be treated

At Kate Greenaway we acknowledge different festivals and cultural events through the year. We use books, cooking and creative activities to give children the opportunity to learn about different cultures and experiences. We encourage children to reflect on what is the same and what is different about their experience compared to their peers.

An important part of our work is to support children’s ability to share and take turns and to interact with other children in a mutually beneficial way. Considering the feelings of others and the consequences of our actions are abilities that develop over time. We can support children to begin to understand these by talking about it together as incidents occur.

We challenge stereotypes, for example gender roles.

We aim to develop children’s ability to self-regulate their emotions.

We support every child to communicate when they are not comfortable with how they are being treated. We recognise that this will sometimes be different for different children, for example one child may enjoy being tickled by their friend while another may not.

Key elements of our practice, such as how we nurture these values in young children, are the subject of on-going reflection and discussion by the Kate Greenaway staff team.

Through these conversations we seek to ensure consistent, high quality interactions from all adults in our nursery that establish and promote a fair, tolerant and respectful learning community.