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Our School Vision

Why are we here?

Each of our children is a precious and unique individual, with God given talents and abilities, created to fulfil a special role in God’s intricate plan for the world.

‘“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.’      Jeremiah 29:11

 

Our Vision – What do we want to achieve?

Our vision at St Leonard’s is to provide a nurturing, Christian environment where pupils develop a passion for learning about the world around them in order for them to become vibrant learners who use their abilities, knowledge and values to grow into faithful stewards of God’s Creation.

We aim to provide learning and experiences to enable pupils to develop spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, morally and physically. Our vision is that they develop a depth of understanding which is deep rooted and as such provide a ‘good soil’ so pupils go on to produce a bountiful crop.

‘Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.’ Matthew 13:8

 We want our pupils to flourish so that they can produce FRUITS:

  • Faith – develop courage, resilience and patience, through their own personal faith in God, so they can retain hope and joy even during hard experiences. (John 1:12)
  • Relationships – flourish through strong relationships with themselves, each other, creation and God. (Luke 10:27)
  • Uniqueness – have the self-confidence to understand their uniqueness and God-given purpose to become the person God created them to be. (Matthew 10:30)
  • Intellect – develop a keen intellect and use this talent and ability wisely to protect and enhance themselves, their communities and the environment. (Proverbs 3:13)
  • Treat themselves and others with dignity and respect maintaining a healthy body and thriving community. (1 Peter 2:17)
  • Salvation – have a recognition that we need to seek forgiveness through Jesus to become friends with God. (Ephesians 2: 8-9)

Our Mission statement – How will we achieve our vision?

Nurturing hearts, minds and bodies through Christ.

Expectations of staff

We at Padiham St Leonard’s CE VA Primary School aim to create a community which aspires to high levels of both intellectual and emotional intelligence. Staff model this for pupils through a view of education as a life-long pursuit of knowledge and skills, alongside relationships modelled on the emotional intelligence of Christ.

We view high levels of emotional intelligence as crucial to our mission and hold Jesus up as our exemplar. It is therefore a central part of our mission that staff display key competencies of:

  • Self-awareness
  • Self-management
  • Social awareness
  • Relationship management

This will be evident to children through:

  • Comments staff make (to each other, to pupils and to other members of the school community) which build each other up as we are instructed in Thessalonians:

‘So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.’   1 Thessalonians 5:11

  • Actions of staff which demonstrate how each member of the community is of equal, yet infinite, worth; in the same way that Jesus valued all members of the community be they leaders in the synagogue, lepers, Samaritans, men or women.

‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.’    Genesis 1:27

  • A commitment to a positive ‘can do’ attitude, alongside detailed planning which responds to individual needs.

‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.’    Colossians 3:23

  • Model a healthy, active lifestyle.

‘Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.’     1 Corinthians 3:16-17

  • Words and actions which reflect our School Values: Compassion, Courage, Forgiveness, Friendship, Generosity, Justice, Perseverance, Respect, Service, Thankfulness, Trust and Truthfulness.

‘Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.’     Titus 2:7-8

  • A willingness to go the extra mile to help others:

‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’    Mark 10:45

Provision for Pupils

‘In a world of scarcity, Jesus preached abundance. He told his followers, who had to beg for their daily food and lodging, not to worry about food or clothing but to trust  that God would provide what they would need (Luke 12:22-30/Matthew 6:25-32). The feeding of the multitudes was a demonstration of abundance (Mark 6:30-44/ Matthew 14:13-21 / Luke 9:12-17 / John 6:1-15 and Mark 8:1-10 / Matthew 15:32-39). The disciples wonder how it will be possible to feed such a multitude with a paltry two dried fishes and five pitta breads. Not only is there enough for the multitude, but food is also left over, enough to feed still more.’       p21, The Emotional Intelligence of Jesus – Relational Smarts for Religious Leaders by Roy M. Oswald

 

Whilst we value the high standards set by the current national curriculum as we want our pupils to be academically prepared for working life in the 21st Century, we are concerned that the impact of a ‘scarcity mentality’ concerning the limited amount of time available within the school day will reduce the curriculum to merely academic skills and knowledge, without a love of learning and a deep understanding of how to apply concepts ethically and with sound judgement. Within this context, St Leonard’s seeks to promote an ‘abundance mentality’ where precious time should be used for learning through celebrating the wonders of creation: where children utilise wonder, exploration, reflection, self-discovery and first-hand experiences of nature to develop their skills and knowledge. In line with the vision of the Church of England we aim to enable children to experience ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10).

To do this we offer:

  • Spiritual experiences: not only through high quality RE and worship, but also through developing a wonder and amazement in God’s creation, e.g. through investigating the phenomenal range of creatures when classifying in science or the wonders of the mountains in geography.

‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.’   Psalm 24:1

‘How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.’ Psalm 104: 24 – 25                  

  • An active curriculum: We believe that not only do we need a healthy body to maintain a healthy mind, but also that our bodies are God-given and temples of the Holy Spirit and therefore our responsibility to keep healthy.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.’    1 Corinthians 6:19-20

  • High standards of education: Fuelled by our belief that each child is a unique part of God’s creation and should be nurtured to reach their true potential, we provide an exciting curriculum which reflects children’s individual needs and offers hands-on learning experiences. This curriculum develops a love of learning and offers children opportunities to delight in their own creativity.‘I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.’    Psalm 139:14
    • A calm, warm, secure environment with staff who display high levels of emotional intelligence to support the emotional development of pupils and vigilant safeguarding procedures.

    ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run into it and are safe.’    Proverbs 18:10

    • Christian Values which are reflected in our policies, exemplified by staff and taught, both explicitly and implicitly, through our Collective Worship, RE and other curriculum. In particular, our behaviour policy is based on grace, forgiveness and fresh starts to ensure that children develop the ability to self-manage their own behaviour in a positive and productive manner.

    ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.’    Galations 5:22-23

    • A high quality RE curriculum which develops a clear understanding that Christian salvation is through faith not works and demonstrates how this faith impacts on the life of Christians in the bible, throughout history and in the world today.

    ‘I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!’   Galations 2:21

    • Community involvementOur belief that God created us to live in harmony as part of his family is reflected in the opportunities offered to our pupils to become active members of our school community (e.g. School Council, Playground Leaders, Claret and Blue Sports Crew, Worship Committee), our local community (e.g. Padiham Pupil Parliament and the joint-school events they organise within the community) and the wider community (e.g. McMillan coffee morning, Operation Christmas Child, the Bethany Family). We believe that these activities offer opportunities to display the compassion modelled by Christ.

    ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!’   Psalm 133:1

    This combination of academic rigour and warm, affirming relationships results in a school where children become enthusiastic learners, willing to take risks, who understand the potential of how to achieve more through co-operation and can take an active part in planning their learning. To this end staff nurture and celebrate good academic habits so that pupils effectively demonstrate the characteristics of effective learners:

    • Reflective Learners
    • Team Workers
    • Creative Thinkers
    • Independent Inquirers
    • Self Managers
    • Effective Participators

Our School Vision - Gallery