Church School
Christian Vision and Values
Our Christian vision is underpinned by the sentiments expressed in St Paul’s letter to the Christian community living in Philippi who were instructed to ‘not only look out for your own interests but take an interest in others, too‘ (Philippians 2:4). This inclusive vision permeates every aspect of our school life encouraging excellence, aspiration, care and empathy in all our stakeholders.
Our pupils know the Christian Vision and can describe the impact of our Christian Values in their own lives as and relate them to stories found in the Bible. Our Christian Values act as the pillars that support and sustain our Christian Vision and are embedded in the theological underpinning of the school.
Our 7 values – forgiveness, service, compassion, tenacity, honesty, tolerance, humility – are related to particular Bibles stories with the Parable of the Prodigal Son being used to encapsulate all the values in one narrative.
Our 7 Christian Values
Our Christian Vision
Collective Worship
Our daily act of worship is an important part of every school day; the value we place on the opportunities we have to worship God together is clear for all to see.
Our collective worship each day is based around our Christian Values of compassion, forgiveness, honesty, humility, service, tenacity and tolerance. Links are also made daily, to British Values, The UNICEF Rights of the child, and how these combined with the schools’ values can be linked to the Bible, and the messages learnt from Jesus.
Our collective worship is led by: the headteacher, deputy headteacher, a member of the clergy team from our mother church, or class teachers on a rota. Pupils regularly volunteer to lead worship on particular themes that are important to them, e.g., charities, world events, SEN and the environment. We are lucky enough to have ex pupils who are happy to come and talk to worship sessions about their lives. Each day everyone is invited to join in with the prayer of the day and are given the opportunity to consider what spirituality means to us all. The children are then provided with time to reflect before returning to their classes. This is designed to enable everyone to flourish spiritually.
On Friday we celebrate and reflect on the achievements of the week.
Religious Education
We believe that a high-quality religious education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of the nature, role and influence of religion in the world.
Teaching should equip pupils to think critically, ask perceptive questions, formulate reasoned opinion and handle controversial issues and truth claims. It should provide pupils with the opportunity to pursue a personal quest for meaning, purpose and value and to develop an understanding of, and respect for, different beliefs and lifestyles. The development of human cultures and the lives of millions of people have been influenced by religions and beliefs; RE enables pupils to recognise this and respond to it so that they can learn more about themselves and their place in the world. The subject has a key role in enabling pupils to achieve and in preparing them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life. Throughout the academic year and over the years, the children have the opportunity to visit a range of places of worship, including, churches, mosques, synagogues, mandirs and gurdwaras. This is in addition to us welcoming religious leaders from a variety of faiths to talk to pupils. Plus us taking part in the School Linking Project run by the Faith and Belief Forum, that gives our children the opportunity to visit and to host pupils from an alternative religious setting.
Our School RE curriculum is mostly derived from the Waltham Forest Agreed Syllabus. In order to ensure the delivery of RE meets the Church of England’s ‘Statement of Entitlement’ requirements we have adapted our scheme of work to include additional units on Christianity to ensure it is the majority religion studied in each year group. The additional units for the teaching of Christianity are taken from the Red Balloon Foundation’s Curriculum Box initiative alongside other quality resources, including ‘Understanding Christianity.’