Students hard at work in the College Office have been reflecting on how they learn about British Values at college. College Office Services Team (COST) is one of the enterprises at Sense College Loughborough, where students can develop their skills in a work-based environment.

While working in COST, students have an opportunity to learn about working in an office-based or administrative role, while also developing their skills in Maths, English, IT, teamwork, communication and independence. Students in COST regularly carry out jobs for College staff, organise College-wide fundraisers, and sometimes complete external job requests. More recently, COST have been collating feedback from all areas of the College regarding how they promote British Values.

Across all areas of the College, students shared how they followed rules and instructions to keep everyone safe, gave examples of activities they had voted on, listed examples of choices they were making during sessions, and showed that they had learnt about events and celebrations from different faiths and beliefs. Students even described how Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Safeguarding were promoted throughout the College.

Below, you can read some of the examples given by students of how they use British Values at College:

The Rule of Law

• In sports sessions, we follow instructions for games to make sure we keep ourselves safe.
• Sensory students spoke about hygiene rules and washing hands before cooking.
• Flexible Futures discussed how their behaviour should be when out in the community.
• Students on an internal work placement created a set of Golden Rules to be used in a workplace setting.
• In College Office, students follow rules relating to Health & Safety, such as pushing chairs under desks and switching off electrical items when not in use.

Democracy

• The students vote on what activities they do during sports sessions.
• Students voted whether to make peppermint creams or chocolate cake in sensory cooking sessions.
• Each area of the College has a representative called a College Ambassador.

Individual Liberty/Choices

• Students can choose if they want to take part in the relaxation/mindfulness part of sports sessions.
• In Physiotherapy sessions, students decided which snack they wanted from the Children in Need fundraiser.
• When College Office organise fundraisers, students can choose whether or not they want to dress up.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance of Those with Different Faiths or Beliefs

• In sport, students discuss a different topic each week, including anti-bullying, stress awareness and disability history month.
• In Physiotherapy sessions, students took part in activities for Halloween, Diwali, Bonfire night and Remembrance Day.
• Sensory students learnt about upcoming celebrations (Halloween and Diwali) and that some people may celebrate these and others may not.
• In braille sessions, students listen to each other if they don't agree with what is being said.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• In eBay sessions, students wore a poppy for Remembrance Day and took part in the two-minute silence.
• Students in Performing Arts sessions looked at different Christmas traditions people follow.
• During their Learner Voice work placement, students wrote about Stress Awareness, including tips on how to look after your mental health.

Safeguarding

• We follow rules in the sports room to make sure we are using the equipment safely around others.
• Students in physiotherapy sessions discussed College rules and about being kind to others in session.
• Sensory students spoke about safely crossing the road when accessing the community to visit the park.
• In Maths & English, students were reminded about E-Safety and accessing safe sites while using the internet.
• During IT workshops, students learnt about Safeguarding Adults Week in November.