Vision & Values

Our School Vision 

Our school vision to ‘Let your Light Shine’ (Matthew 5:16) is our main aim for our children and this vision is at the core of everything we do and be behind every decision we make and is integrated into our curriculum through our L.I.G.H.T values (Love, Integrity, Generosity, Hope & Togetherness). Our vision is a window into our school. Jesus said we are the light of the world and as a school we love and nurture the light in our pupils so that it can shine brightly in everything that we do and enable all those in our school family to be the best they can be, sharing their good deeds and Glorifying God. The inspiration for this was taken from the first part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells his disciples, "You are the light of the world" and encourages them not to hide it. As teachers in our school, we wish to encourage our pupils in the same way. We believe this Bible passage also encapsulates all our Christians Values we hold dear at SJSM Primary School (Love, Integrity, Generosity, Hope & Togetherness).  

Our School Values  

The curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure our Christian Values of Love, Integrity, Generosity, Hope and Togetherness are promoted throughout. We have carefully chosen texts that promote these values in our reading curriculum such as in Little Oaks the children explore the stories ‘Along came a different’ and ‘Meesha makes friends’ which illustrate our Christian Value of Togetherness. We also use opportunities in our wider curriculum to promote these values such as in History, the value of hope and integrity are often highlighted in topics such as the World Wars. 

In addition to this we carefully plan out opportunities for children to deepen their Christian education in other areas of the curriculum, for instance the whole school have recently completed a community Art project which was based on the ‘Creation Story’.  

Our Christian values are intertwined in everything we do at our school, and we provide areas and opportunities for children to develop their spirituality. For example, the children have made ‘Reflection Areas’ and ‘Value Stations’ which can be used when children need inspiration and/or guidance. They include resources such as ‘Prayer Bears’, ‘Scripture’ and ‘Prayer Trees’.

Here are some photographs of some of our classroom reflection areas: 

Extra special ways that we promote our values across school: 

LOVE: 

Each year we celebrate Valentines Days with a special day based on the ‘Value of Love’. Over the years we have focused on topics such as ‘Love for my friends’, ‘Love for myself’ and ‘Love for our world’. This is a whole-school special occasion that promotes the value of love in our lessons and finishes of with a Valentines Disco: 

Other examples include: 

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 
1 Corinthians 13:13 

INTERGRITY: 

Integrity is a word that is used a lot in our school. Integrity means doing the right thing even when nobody is watching. It means: 

being honest  

making good choices  

keeping promises  

treating others fairly  

standing up for what is right 

Some examples of the way we promote integrity are: 

Honesty role-play scenarios 

Pupils returning lost property 

Classroom/ whole school responsibility jobs 

Pupil Parliament discussions 

Children signing a class charter or promise 

“The righteous person lives on the basis of his honesty. Happy are his children after him!” Proverbs 20:7 

GENEROSITY: 

As a whole school we promote generosity by carefully debating and voting for the charities we want to raise money for each year. Each class also chooses a class charity to learn about and support throughout the year. Generosity is also embodied in everything we do at SJSM. Here are some of the ways we promote it: 

Harvest Festival donations 

Food bank collections 

Charity fundraising events 

Children donating toys or books 

Sponsored activities 

“You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” 

 Acts 20:35 

HOPE: 

There are lots of examples of how we promote hope in our school. A number of these are through our wellbeing curriculum and support programmes. We hold daily ‘Mindful me’ sessions where children learn about techniques such as positive thinking. We also have a school wellbeing club that promotes activities around goal setting and provides empowerment and support when needed. We also have a whole school ‘Inspiration People Project’ where we schedule lots of visitors to come in and work with the children and give information about their journey and achievements. These visitors have included professionals such as fire fighters, solicitors and nurses. As well as other professionals and charity workers such as the Director of the Christian Youth Charity VISION (Nathan Shepherd) and a Paralympian (Michael Churn) 

Photographs from a wellbeing walk in our lunchtime wellbeing club: 

Photographs from special visitors: 

Other ways we promote hope are: 

Goal-setting activities/displays 

Dream or aspiration boards 

Transition activities for moving year groups 

Children planting seeds and watching growth 

Resilience challenges and celebration displays 

“I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11 

TOGETHERNESS: 

We are always promoting togetherness in our school. Teacher’s give opportunities for lots of collaboration in activities such as group work. The whole school gathers for collective worship throughout the week. The school also has play leaders where the older children spend time leading and supporting the younger children. 

The children also have the following opportunities to promote togetherness: 

Whole-class games 

Collaborative STEM challenges 

Group singing or performances 

Playground friendship activities 

Circle-time discussions