Christian Distinctiveness
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
As a Church of England Primary School in Shrewsbury, we are committed to providing a strong Christian ethos within our school. Our special Bible story – The Good Samaritan – is the theological root underpinning the work we do in all areas of school life. It informs our curriculum, our behaviour policy, our inclusivity and our support for all members of our school community.
Christian values underpin our work, our relationships and our commitment to ensure equality of opportunity for all children. From our Bible story flow our three core values: respect, responsibility and resilience. These values are deeply embedded in our school and rooted in the parable of The Good Samaritan. We strive to make our school welcoming, open and friendly with a positive Christian ethos. We also foster an understanding of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23): love, peace, gentleness, kindness, joy, hope, faithfulness, self-control and patience.
Our collective worships take place daily and provide an opportunity for children to participate in collective worship, and to acknowledge and celebrate work and achievements. Our collective worships are led by our Head Teacher, members of our teaching staff, and members of St Giles church ministry team (Revd Andrew and Revd Zoe).
Whilst being a church school and having a distinctly Christian approach, we also welcome, celebrate and include those of different faiths and those who do not have a religious belief. We model mutual respect and understanding in our collective worship, our RE lessons and throughout our curriculum. We strive to uphold the Church of England’s vision of education ideal that collective worship is inclusive, invitational and inspirational.
Our Church Links – St Giles, Shrewsbury
We have strong links with our local church – St Giles. Our whole school visits the church for worship at least once every term; these services are a highlight of our school year and we love welcoming members of our wider local and church community to these services. Our collective worship committee help plan and lead these acts of worship, and all are invited to attend and participate. In addition to our services at St Giles, our children also visit the church as part of our RE curriculum.
With the support of St Giles’ ministry leaders, we visit Portland House each Christmas to share worship with the residents there. This outreach from our school into our local community is an important way in which we live out our values and demonstrate our ‘love for our neighbour’.
Revds Andrew and Zoe usually lead worship every week (on a Thursday) and also support us in visiting the children during RE lessons and careers week, for example. Revd Andrew is a member of the school governing body (as a foundation governor) and regularly attends both governing body meetings but also relevant staff meetings (e.g. subject monitoring for RE, staff CPD about spirituality).