We expect everyone in our community to work together cooperatively, to show consideration and courtesy to each other and the wider community and to make an active contribution to the world they live in. This is The Highgate Wood Way and demonstrate the qualities that help us thrive, individually and collectively, be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve.
The promotion of what the Department for Education has called fundamental British values is something all schools are required to embrace, but was already an established part of our culture and our belief at Highgate Wood School before being introduced to the 5 British values.
The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy document and provided more guidance in November 2014 through the DfE’s Promoting fundamental British values through SMSC .
British Values are: democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. These values are embedded in our own core values and permeate the school community. We are proud of our diverse and inclusive community and we support all efforts to address issues of prejudice, disrespect or hate. Visit Educate.Against.Hate and LGfL’s resource on combating extremism.
The examples that follow are an indication of some of the many ways we seek to embed British values at Highgate Wood School and should be seen as an indication of our approach rather than an exhaustive list.
Student Voice is an important part of Highgate Wood School. We have an active School Council, whereby, elected students represent the views of the student body. Representatives meet with members of the School’s Leadership Team and the school’s Governing Body to raise issues and voice their opinions. The principle of democracy is explored in History and ECS as well as within the PHSE\Life Skills curriculum.
The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, school, country or international convention are reinforced through school practice and procedures as well as school events. We run assemblies to highlight the importance of agreed rules, practices and behaviours, as well as to highlight the tragedies that occur when the ordinary rule of law breaks down, at a local level with the stories behind the Haringey Riots, or the international level with the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Students are actively encouraged to make independent, informed choices, knowing that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment. As a school, we provide boundaries for students to make choices safely. Through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. We encourage students to know, understand and exercise their rights, responsibilities and personal freedoms and receive advice about applying these safely, for example, through our exploration of E-Safety in Computer Science.
We welcome visitors to the school who can provide insights and understanding about the wider world. Still, we also operate a strict policy to ensure that no extreme or prejudicial views are unchallenged or otherwise promoted.
Student Voice is an important part of Highgate Wood School. We have an active School Council, whereby, elected students represent the views of the student body. Representatives meet with members of the School’s Leadership Team and the school’s Governing Body to raise issues and voice their opinions. The principle of democracy is explored in History and ECS as well as within the PHSE\Citizenship curriculum. Highgate Wood School is proud of its record of success with Model United Nations and hosts the North London Model UN Conference.
The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, school, country or international convention are reinforced through school practice and procedures as well as school events. We run assemblies to highlight the importance of agreed rules, practices and behaviours, as well as to highlight the tragedies that occur when the ordinary rule of law breaks down, at a local level with the stories behind the Haringey Riots, or the international level with the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Students are actively encouraged to make independent, informed choices, knowing that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment. As a school, we provide boundaries for students to make choices safely. Through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. We encourage students to know, understand and exercise their rights, responsibilities and personal freedoms and receive advice about applying these safely, for example, through our exploration of E-Safety in Computer Science.
We welcome visitors to the school who can provide insights and understanding about the wider world. Still, we also operate a strict policy to ensure that no extreme or prejudicial views are unchallenged or otherwise promoted.
Respect is at the core of our school ethos, and our students and staff model this. Embraced throughout the curriculum is mutual respect. From the concept of “fair play” in PE to the student peer mentoring programme, which promotes mutual respect and support between students across different year groups within the school.
We are proud of the diversity of our community. We believe HWS provides an exceptional environment to equip young people to thrive confidently within a modern, culturally diverse society. We developed active international links that are established through individual departments (such as MFL, Philosophy, History, PE and Music), different year groups (including the sixth form) and through our whole-school work for which we previously achieved the International Schools Award.
Additionally, we strive to support our students to develop into confident, happy, and successful young adults. Who have an understanding of different outlooks, beliefs, faiths. And appreciate the importance of equality in terms of race or ethnic identity, religion or belief, gender, sexuality (including gender reassignment), age and disability as well as awareness that the law protects these equalities. View our Equality Information and Objectives document.