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Christian Vision and Values
We are a loving community of courageous learners, building resilience and hope for the future based on our caring Christian foundation.
Christian Vision and Values
We are a loving community of courageous learners, building resilience
and hope for the future based on our caring Christian foundation.
Our Vision Statement
Be courageous; Be strong; Do everything in love’
1 Corinthians 16 v13-14
There are four core values that underpin everything that we do at Grazeley:
Love
Let all that you do be in love 1
Corinthians 16:14
Peace
Do all you can do to live in peace with everyone
Romans 12:18
Hope
Hope anchors the soul
Hebrews 6:19
Courage
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged
Joshua 1 v9
Theological Underpinning
In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul is writing to a church that is experiencing difficulties. As they seek to work through these, Paul asks them to take on board the fundamental Christian value of love in order to live and grow well together as a church community admonishing them to…
Be courageous, be strong, do everything in love
1 Corinthians 16 v13-14
This vision, developed in consultation with parents, pupils, governors and staff during the COVID19 pandemic, highlights the strength of relationships that exist within the school community. It also reflects our ambition to see our children develop more resilience, and become courageous learners bringing hope for the future to those around them as well as themselves. As a school that is on a journey of improvement, leaders, staff, pupils and parents must be courageous in making change happen, and doing it in love.
Collective Worship
At Grazeley Parochial Primary School Collective Worship is inclusive and invitational. Our daily act of worship is based on our school vision and values, and enables children to reflect and think about how they can live well in the community they belong to, through thoughts and reflections that are rooted in our Christian Foundation.
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
Led by | Headteacher | Visitor/ Collective Worship Lead | Child Led | Deputy Headteacher | Headteacher |
Theme | Whole School ‘Our Loving Community’ | Whole School Our Christian Foundation theme | Class Based Our Christian Foundation theme | Sung Worship with Review of weekly theme | Celebration |
As well as leading some Collective Worship sessions, Rev. David, the vicar of our local church St. Michaels, joins us for our services throughout the year – Harvest, Christmas, Easter and the Leavers’ service – as well as supporting our annual Prayer Space in school. We also have developed partnerships with members of other local congregations including Beech Hill Baptist Church who come regularly to lead Collective Worship for us, as well as helping us to organise and run our annual prayer space in school.
Child Led Collective Worship
Each week two children from each class in Key Stage 2 work with the Collective Worship leader to prepare class Collective Worship around the theme for the week. With support from their teacher where needed, the children learn how to speak in front of the class, enable their peers to share thoughts and ideas, as well as leading quiet reflection and prayer times. Children are chosen on a weekly basis by the class teacher, and any child wishing to lead Collective Worship is given the chance to do so over the year. Year 5 and 6 children lead their class only while Year 3 and 4 children lead for their class and for Years 1 and 2.
Services
We have for celebration services a year in school. Harvest festival is celebrated by Years 1 to 6 in the school hall where the children each lead different parts of the service. Foundation Stage have their own harvest festival in class with family and siblings coming to join them in what is an inclusive class community celebration.
At Christmas we celebrate with concerts and nativity plays in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One with Key Stage 2 leading a joyful service of Christmas readings and carols in St Michael’s church in the evening.
Our Easter service is held in the school hall and once again the children lead different parts of the service.
At the end of the school year we hold our leavers service outside on the school field. Year 6 lead us in a service of remembrances and celebration, followed by Year 5 sharing inspiring readings and verses as the Year 6 leave and hand their responsibilities onto them.
Family members are invited to join us at each of the services.
Prayer
Prayer is an integral part of life at Grazeley Parochial Primary school. It is always invitational, with those not wishing to pray being asked to use the time to reflect. Prayer provides space in the school day where children and other members of our community have the opportunity to explore questions about God, faith and life, and are given time to reflect and respond.
This prayer and reflection supports children in their spiritual growth, promotes respect and tolerance, helps character development and puts the Christian ethos at the heart of school life.
There is a regular routine of prayer in class before lunch and at the end of the school day. In our daily act of Collective Worship children are given opportunities to reflect and pray on what we have learnt about.
Each term, our theme for one week’s Collective Worship is prayer. Each prayer week, children will reflect upon different style of prayer, and respond – often writing prayers of their own. For example, when reflecting on prayers of blessing and each class composed a prayer of blessing to go above the doorway, blessing those in came in and out of their classroom.
Prayer Spaces
As part of our annual cycle of Collective Worship we host a prayer space in our Spiritual Garden. Members of local churches join us in preparing, setting up and staffing the space where children are given the opportunity to reflect on matters inwardly about themselves, looking upwards to God and looking outwards to other people. The activities encourage children to reflect in a creative and practical way, with an invitation to pray in the end. Parents and other members of the school community are invited to visit the prayer space at the end of the week.
The prayer space helped me to understand my dad more. He is a Muslim and prays every day.
Even though I don’t believe in God, it helps me to think about things.
I liked how it was quiet in the prayer space.
Thinking Tables
Every class has a thinking table where children can go and reflect during the school day. Creative prayer activities that relate to the Collective Worship theme for the week are added to the thinking table where children are prompted to think more deeply about how the ideas discussed impact them and the people around them.
These spaces also contain a candle, cross and bible. The cloth on the table is changed to match the colour of the season of the church year – Green for growing, Purple for preparation and waiting, White for joy and celebration and Red for passion.
Courageous Advocacy
A courageous advocate is someone who supports, champions and speaks up for a cause that is important and meaningful to them. At Grazeley Parochial Primary School we support and encourage our children to become courageous advocates in their local community. They learn that, through their actions, they can make a positive difference to others, bringing hope to people who are facing challenges locally, nationally and globally.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31: 8-9)
Charitable giving
Children are encouraged to find out about charities that support those in need, and then raise money to support them. As a school we support national fundraising initiatives such as Children in Need and Red Nose Day each year, as well as charities that individual families and children are prompted to raise money for. For example, a cake sales have been held to raise money for Cancer Research after a family in our community was affected by cancer related death, and two children in Year 5 organised a cake sale to raise money to send generators to those affected by the war in Ukraine.
Every harvest we collect food for Readifood, the local foodbank. The Year 6 children help to load the food onto the Readifood van and it is taken to the warehouse to be sorted and distributed.
Lent Charity
Each year, led by the school council, the children choose a charity that they would like to raise money for. Each class then chooses how they want to raise money, organise the event and carry it out. Where they need adult help to carry out a part of the event then they are expected to ask for this themselves. Last year the children chose to raise money for the RSPCA. Classes raised money in many different ways including a pay and play fun football match, a ‘bring your bear to school’ day and making and selling icepops after school.
Community Responsibility
Through the curriculum and Collective Worship, children are encouraged to see themselves as part of the local community and to understand that they can be part of it. For example, as part of our Collective Worship children drew pictures to give to a local care home for the elderly. In a recent addition to our curriculum in Year 3, each child has the opportunity to attend the coffee morning run by the local church once over the year, handing out biscuits and cold drinks and playing with the toddlers.
Within school children are encouraged to be active members of our community. Children in Year 6 are given responsibility to carry out jobs and roles that help the school community to run well. For example, they support Mr Driver with the library, set up and run the hall for Collective Worship and referee football at lunchtimes for the younger classes. They buddy up with the Foundation Stage children when they start school supporting the younger child in their transition into school. Year 5 children are trained as Play Leaders and lead play activities at lunchtimes.
Speaking up for others
School Council
Our elected School Council seek the views of the children, giving them a voice to share concerns and contribute ideas to improve the school. Where there are consultations within the local community we take our School Council to the consultation. The most recent consultation was for a housing development around the school and the School Council attended the meeting in the evening, asking questions and feeding back the answers to the whole school.
Curriculum
Throughout our curriculum there are opportunities for children to develop as courageous advocates. For example, through their focus on wildlife in Science and Geography, Year 2 write letters supporting the protection of endangered species and campaign against litter hurting wildlife in the local area. Year 5 focus on fair trade and food air miles leads them to campaign for the community to consider buying local.
Links to our Local Church
We have strong links to our local church St. Michaels. Rev David is a regular visitor to the school, leading Collective Worship and services, and supporting our RE sessions, as well as being a member of the governing board. We have close links with our local Baptist church, Beech Hill Baptist, Bright Hope Church which meets in the village hall opposite the school and Providence Chapel in Reading.
Members of these communities come into school to lead Collective Worship as well as being instrumental in enabling our Prayer Spaces to run. Most recently members of Beech Hill and Bright Hope church joined Rev David to form a panel where the children in Year 4 could ask them questions about their faith which they each answered from their denominational point of view.
We signpost events at the churches, are involved with the Beech Hill coffee morning, celebrate Christmas in St Michael’s church and contribute to the Christmas community displays there. This year the theme was angels and all the children were involved in creating a display of God’s messenger angels sharing messages that they thought were important.
Spirituality
‘Spirituality is fundamental to our being. We may experience and express our spirituality in different ways, but we are all spiritual in some way’ David Holmes Exploring Spirituality in the Primary School 2021
At Grazeley Primary School we have been developing our shared understanding of spirituality. Allowing children to develop spiritually means asking them to look at the world around them, reflect on what they have seen and decide how they will respond.
In discussion with staff and children we have developed the Grazeley ‘Spirituality-tree’ which shows visually how we enable everyone in our community to develop spiritually.
Roots
These are our school values of Love, Hope, Peace and Courage which form a firm base for us to develop spiritually.
Trunk
These are the places in school life where we have opportunities to grow spiritually.
We grow spiritually through…
- Relationships and Community
- Curriculum and Creativity
- Faith and World Views
- Observation, Reflection and Collective Worship
Branches
By developing spiritually we learn to be Compassionate, Respectful, Resilient and Curious.
Fruit
We leave school having grown spiritual fruit in all the following ways:
- Compassionate branch – empathetic, kind and caring
- Respectful branch – thoughtful, grateful, tolerant and humble
- Resilient branch – confident, adaptable and independent
- Curious branch –open minded with the skills to question
Spiritual Garden
Our spiritual garden was built from the children’s designs several years ago. It is a quiet space in the school grounds where children can go to reflect and think. Our prayer space happens in the space as well as being used for some RE lessons. (It is currently undergoing refurbishment)