School Council members from St Thomas’ and other the ‘EduCant’ schools in Canterbury have come up with a survey to find out which British Values are the most important to different age groups in our local community.

The outcomes of the survey were presented at a special schools’ council meeting at the Guildhall in Canterbury in February. In addition pupils created display boards about their favourite British values. The venue was provided by Matthew Archer of the Democratic Services Team, Canterbury City Council. Mr. Archer presented to the school councils who attended. He said how impressed he was by the results of the survey and the contributions made by the students.

Participating schools included: St Thomas’ Catholic Primary, St Peter’s Methodist Primary School, Blean Primary School, and Chartham Primary School.

Miss D’Agostini said, “We have been overwhelmed by the response to the pupil’s survey. It is clear that different age groups prefer different values – but the enduring ideals still hold true.”

The survey asked anonymous participants to vote on a wide selection of values including: democracy, politeness, tolerance, hard work, freedom speech and many more. Early results indicate that top of the list for adults is the NHS – a free national health service for all, closely followed by family values and good manners. The age and gender of the participants has also been recorded in order to give an intergenerational comparison of the values. The DfE has launched a consultation to promote British values in schools around the country.