Vision and Values

During the Sermon on the Mount, found in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addresses a crowd and reveals eight blessings (known as The Beatitudes).   He then goes on to talk to the crowd about salt and light.

Jesus explains: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.   No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.   In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:14-16

 
We want our school family to be beacons that shine far and wide, lighting up our region with the light of Jesus through our work, rest and play.   By learning about Christian values, by listening to the teachings of Jesus, and by following the example of Jesus, we say to every member of our community: let your light shine before others.

At Mitcheldean Endowed Primary School, we believe that every child and adult can shine and that this can be for the benefit of all.   The A,B,C of our vision derives from our belief that we are all special in God’s eyes, we all  have unique talents, which we nurture so that each of us has the opportunity to become the very best person that God intended us to be.   

We want to see everyone achieve, being inspired and growing in wisdom, knowledge love and dignity.   We want to see our school community flourishing and excelling in everything that they do through enabling each other to believe in themselves and others.  We do not want the brilliant things that we do and learn to be hidden.   We want to encourage our children, staff and families to aspire to great things and for the light of their lives to shine, enabling them to contribute in their classrooms, throughout the school, at home and within our community.

As we all demonstrate our Christian values of service, honesty, inspire, nurture and encourage, in a supportive atmosphere of mutual respect and trust, our hope is that light will shine from our school in many ways, every day - for the benefit of all and for the glory of God.

We believe that developing a sense of self-worth is of paramount importance.   When he was on earth, Jesus once said: ‘I am the light of the world’ (John 8:12).   However, as he spoke to those around him during the Sermon on the Mount, he also used these words: ‘You are the light of the world’. In addition to letting their light shine on others, we want our children to recognise the value of their own light: to be proud of their personal achievements; to value and respect themselves; and to know how loved they are both by God and by others. We aim to develop resilient, confident children who are able to face the future with hope and aspiration and embrace all that life has to offer.

The words of the Sermon on the Mount remind us that a light should not be put under a bowl – it should give light to everyone, including oneself.   In possession of God’s light and His love, it is possible for us all to show something of his light in our families, in our school, in our community and throughout the world.

As a school, we have chosen Christian values and teachings to create a positive and nurturing environment for our school community, enabling our children to understand what it means to light their light SHINE.  Working with the Churches that serve our local community, our school council, parents and carers, and school staff, we chose the following values:

Service,

Honesty,

Inspire,

Nurture,

Encourage

We selected the biblical stories; The Good Samaritan, Zacchaeus The Tax Collector, The Calling of the First Disciples  (Fishers of Men),  The Parable of the Sower, and the Feeding of the Five Thousand to illustrate our chosen values. 

Through sharing, and reflecting on these bible stories, we strive to enable our school community to  reflect on how they can apply these values in their daily lives.  We have sought to create a school-wide culture that celebrates acts of service, honesty, inspiration, nurturing, and encouragement.   Empowering our children to recognise when they have experienced or witnessed the values of Service, Honesty, Inspire, Nurture, and Encourage in action.

Through celebrating and modelling these Christian values, we aspire to create a supportive and nurturing environment where everyone in our school community feels empowered to let their light shine before others.

 Our vision and values are central to our school.  We strive to capture this in our subject blueprints which can be found under the curriculum tab.  These also illustrate how spiritual, moral, social and  cultural development happens within each curriculum subject.