Our Christian Ethos through our School Vision, Values and SIAMs
Our Christian Vision for our school
A journey of learning for all, within God’s guiding hands.
Life is a wonderful journey of learning guided by God. Chislet School nurtures all individuality and growth through a supportive and caring family. Everyone brings something special to our school. Using our Christian values, we aim to nurture, encourage, transform and watch it flourish within our community and beyond.
In our school we hope that our Christian ethos will be evident to all who come within our walls. This vision guides not only the religious parts of the day, but it is also a firm foundation for the whole life of the school; as the children grow physically and mentally, they will also grow socially and spiritually, so gaining a real respect for themselves, for each other, and indeed, for the whole of this exciting world – God’s world – in which we all live together. As our vision states, everyone brings something special to Chislet Church of England Primary School. Our purpose is to receive and transform that 'something special', to nurture and celebrate it and watch it flourish.
We aim to achieve this by:
- creating a secure, friendly and supportive learning environment for all children
- Setting high expectations for children in everything they do and supporting children in this by giving praise, encouragement and step-by-step advice and guidance
- offering support, guidance and encouragement in all aspects of life, including social and spiritual
- giving praise and respect for achievements both in school and outside of school
- offering a lively and stimulating National Curriculum accessible to all children
- working in partnership with children, parents, governors and our wider community to achieve the best results for all children
- providing children with an array of experiences of awe and wonder to develop their spirituality and respect for the world God created.
Our latest OFSTED said
"Spiritual provision is strong. Pupils talk confidently about their own beliefs and those of others."
Feeding of the 5000
Our School's Christian Values of Respect, Praise, Trust and Care
The story of ‘Jesus Feeding the 5000’ provides us with the basis of our school’s Christian values.
John 6 vs 4-13 New International Version
4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[a] worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.
Jesus showed care and respect for the crowd in this story. He could see that the people were hungry and he cared about their needs. As a school, we aim to fulfil the needs of all in our community and to show respect and care to others.
The young boy brought just five loaves and two fish. The disciples said that it would not be enough. Jesus placed a responsibility on his disciples to trust in him and God. We believe everyone brings something to Chislet Church of England School. Our aim is to inspire, nurture, and develop what children bring; for us all to trust that what we do will improve it and then watch and celebrate it flourishing throughout the whole school.
Jesus took what the boy had offered, gave thanks to God, and transformed the gift to be able to sustain all who needed it. It is our aim to ensure that everybody has the self-belief that what they have to offer is worthwhile. Just as Jesus thanked and praised God, our aim in school is to give praise to all who achieve, no matter what or how. We aim to instil in children a thankfulness for what they have as well as to inspire them to develop and grow these things. Through learning together, we hope that they will achieve a lasting transformation which will sustain and enrich them as global citizens.
At the end, the disciples gathered the food that was left and filled 12 baskets. One for each disciple to take with them on the journey ahead. We aim to enable children to grow what they have brought to our school and to have the self-belief and respect to be able to take their new knowledge and abilities and use them as their journey continues.
Everyone is not only aware of the Christian values we promote in our school, but more importantly, they know what they represent and look like through actions and words. Much of our worship highlights Bible stories and examples where these values have been shown. Celebration assemblies happen once a week and, as well as rewarding children for work carried out in school, children are also able to bring into school achievements accomplished outside of school.
We emphasise to children that all members of our school try to not only follow these core values but should also expect them to be followed by others towards themselves.