A Church of England School
We are a church school affiliated to St John the Baptist Church in Barham.
Collective Worship
Collective worship is a sacred and significant time of each school day, where we gather together as a school family. The school's collective worship policy can be viewed here:
Christian Festivals
We celebrate the following Christian Festivals each year – many take place at St John’s church which parents are welcome to attend (please see yearly calendar for dates)
Harvest, Advent, Christmas, Easter and Ascension
Other church services include Blessing of the Backpack, Remembrance, Saints’ Days and Christingle.
In addition to these services, one of our special church/school events is the Creative Prayer Day. Each class spends time in church/school during the day, and explores many different ways of reflecting, praying, thinking and understanding.
In May 2016 we received an ‘outstanding’ judgement in our SIAMS (church inspection) with recognition that ‘Relationships between the school and church which are mutually beneficial and supportive are a model of outstanding practice’.
Reflective Corners
There is a reflective area in each classroom to provide a quiet area of reflection, should a child wish to use this.
Spiritual garden
The children have helped to design a spiritual garden, situated at the top of the playing field. This area provides children with a quiet area of reflection outside during play times and for whole class collective worship and circle time.
Christian Values
Our five Christian values of Compassion, Service, Humility, Endurance, and Thankfulness teach us about the nature of God and are at the heart of all that we do as a school.
We can learn from the example of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33 to learn about our values in school.
The disciples encounter a storm on Lake Galilee. Like the disciples, we all face difficult situations and feel under pressure. Jesus came alongside his disciples to help when they needed him, giving Peter confidence and calming the storm; we try to be the same.
Compassion and Service
Two of our school values are Compassion and Service. Jesus showed compassion for the disciples and serves them as he looks after them during the storm. We look after one another and look for ways to help anyone in need.
Endurance
Jesus lifted Peter up as he started to sink. Jesus supported Peter and helped him to keep going. Our school aims to support each individual so they can develop Endurance whatever storms they face. We want to support everyone to feel confident in who they are and equipped to face challenging situations.
Humility
As a school community, we also seek to show Humility and learn from each other, just as the other disciples learned from Peter's actions when he needed help.
Thankfulness
This Bible story ends with the disciples praising Jesus in thankfulness for what he has done. In our value of Thankfulness, we recognise and appreciate how all the good things in our lives come from God.
Our School Prayer
This is our school
Let peace dwell here
Let the room be full of contentment
Let love abide here
Love of one another
Love of mankind
Love of life itself
And love of God
Let us remember:
As many hands build a house
So many hearts make a school
Amen
Worship at Church
Children are an important part of the church community and there are several ways for young people to join in with worship at the church: