British Values

Boarding Houses & British Values

We espouse British values and aim to encourage our boarding students to develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in Britain by promoting the fundamental British Values. 

Values of tolerance and respect permeate all areas of the boarding life. This creates a climate within which our boarding students feel safe and secure and therefore allows them to learn and develop. Boarding students’ voice plays an integral part in driving the residential provision forward.

We teach boarding students about Democracy through:

• Being involved in democratic processes e.g., weekly house meetings, voting at boarding students council meetings, rewards, and incentives
• Asking boarding students to Check in/ check out – discussing issues and forming opinions

We teach boarding students about Rule of Law through:

• School behaviour policy
• Reflecting of behaviour and what lessons is learned after behaviour incidents
• Our Residential Manager delivering anti-crime, anti-gangs, anti-knives, and consequences of criminal record talks as extra-curricular activity beyond the school day
• Visits from Kent Police Youth Engagement Officers (YEOs)
• Arranging for magistrates to come in to talk to our boarders as extra-curricular activity beyond the school day

We teach boarding students about Individual Liberty through:

• Understanding responsibility in school in terms of behaviour and learning attitudes
• Our school values of Respect   Responsibility   Resilience   Relationship
• Community links – residential home, school nurse, sexual health clinic nurse
• Restorative practise
• Challenging stereotyping and bias
• Anti-bullying

We teach boarding students about Mutual Respect through:

• Positive relationships encouraged and modelled
• Anti-bullying
• Consistent key working sessions
• Weekly House Meetings and Boarding Student Council Meeting
• Trips – wider community
• Visitors (e.g., sexual health clinic, Kent Police Youth Engagement Officers, Standard 20 Visitor)
• Check -in, check-out

We teach boarding students about Tolerance through:

• Our boarding students having respect and tolerance for different people and cultures in the residential provision
• When boarding students have disagreements, we encourage them to naturally work through them instead of automatic punitive sanctions or instead of fighting and moving on to different friend groups; they learn to resolve disputes and work towards sustaining long-term, positive relationships. This means clique behaviours do not thrive in our boarding provision.
• At a private school like West Heath, we want our boarders to be responsible for themselves and their possessions as well as developing character traits like self-reliance and independence.
• As our boarding students share personal stories, cultural insights, and new experiences with each other, they learn to see beyond categories of difference. They learn that their personal character is as meaningful as their background – a deeply important lesson we hope they can take with them after they leave West Heath for years to come.