Christian Vision and Values
Journeying Together to Live, Learn and Laugh with the Love of God
'Do everything in love' 1 Corinthians 16:14
St James is a Church of England School with close associations to St James the Great, Haydock. We cater for pupils and families in the local community by providing an education that is steeped in Anglican tradition and Christian Values.
Our aim is to provide a high quality curriculum, which should inspire in pupils a curiosity about, and the want to build a relationship with God the Father, Jesus His Son and The Holy Spirit sent to stay amongst us.
Our vision for our school is that all children develop skills through an enquiry approach and that this will develop coherent knowledge and understanding of religion and spirituality.
We open the children’s minds through learning in RE, Collective Worship and by providing spiritual experiences. Pupils gain an in-depth understanding of The Bible, the impact this has on us today and how we can develop relationships with God and each other now and in the future.
We provide an element of challenge, which enables and encourages children to ask critical questions and have a better understanding of the society in which they live. It also helps children gain a sense of their own identity within a social, political, cultural and economic background and allows us to celebrate God’s world.
Our school’s own relationship with St James the Great Church is a well celebrated and inspiring feature of the school. Children, parents and the community are encouraged to live by our Bible quote ‘Do everything in love' 1 Corinthians 16:14. We do this by modelling behaviours, supporting many charities and working with a variety of groups in the local community to make our local area, the wider community and our world a great place to live.
Our 12 Christian Values are taught through Collective Worship, class and family group activities and homework that encourages communication with parents and other family members. These are explicitly taught on a two year rolling programme and reviewed at different times throughout the year. Our Christian Values are linked to bible stories and therefore rooted in Christian narrative.
Our school uses two resources called ‘Values for Life’ and ‘Roots and Fruits’ as a basis for our Collective Worship. These Values are shared with children on a regular basis, and reinforced through our teaching. Most of these Values can be said to be ‘human Values’ and inclusive for people with different or diverse faiths, and also for those with no faith. As a Church of England school, however, we have rooted these Values in the Bible. We have established 12 Values that are particularly important to members of our school family. Please scroll down to find out more about the Value we explore each half term and a linked Bible story that illustrates the Value well and is particularly memorable for the children.
For each of our 12 values, there are resources for you to use at home as a family and these can be found below.
https://www.ldst.org.uk/our-vision-and-values/