Vision and Values
At Bathford Church School, our vision of ‘Grow, Care, Serve, Share’ and our values – Be Your Best, Be Kind, Be Respectful, Be a Team – drive our broad, balanced curriculum. We aim to help our children to grow by equipping them with the knowledge, skills and values they need both to make sense of the world and to become caring, responsible global citizens.
Our ‘Grow, Care, Serve, Share’ vision and our values permeate every aspect of school life and frame the way we live and work, creating deep and mutually beneficial relationships between children, staff, parents and the community. Our school has an exceptionally strong sense of inclusion and is a place where everyone is welcome – Christian families and families from all faiths and none. We are unwavering in our ambition to see every child included in the life of the school, enabled to flourish and succeed.
Our vision underpins our behaviour policy such that adults and children are able to thrive in an environment which not only provides emotional and physical safety but also the support and guidance we need to be the best we can be.
Our Christian vision is underpinned by biblical teaching consisting of four quotes from the Gospels:
Grow: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” (John 15:5)
Care: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
Serve: “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)
Share: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15)
Our vision is shared with St. Swithun’s, our local church, and this shared vision underlines the strength of our relationship.
Collective Worship
Our Trust Collective Worship policy can be found here:
Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust – Policies (bwmat.org)
At Bathford, we call Collective Worship ‘Koinonia.’ Koinonia is Christian fellowship or communion, with God or, more commonly, with fellow Christians. Koinonia is an important part of our daily school routine and enables children and staff to think about our overarching whole school themes and values, particularly Christian values, the impact they have on children’s everyday lives and to reflect on God and the teachings of the Bible.
Bathford Church School has strong links with our local church, St. Swithun’s and we are very lucky that once a week, on a Thursday, Reverend Lauretta from the St Swithun’s team leads our worship. This might involve sharing stories from the bible, special events for special occasions such as Harvest, Easter and Christmas, and supporting the children to reflect on Christian values.
Our aims for Koinonia are to:
- Provide opportunities for worshipping God.
- Provide opportunities for participants to develop a closer relationship with God.
- Encourage a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty, power and mystery of the world.
- Encourage resilience in the face of local and global current events.
- Encourage the development of a sense of spirituality.
- Encourage a sense of community within and beyond the school.
- Foster a sense of fellowship by bringing together pupils and staff to celebrate shared values in the school and in the community.
- Share experiences such as special occasions and events in relation to individual pupils within the school, to the school as a whole, or to the wider community.
- Enable children to develop their understanding of the Christian faith and of the teachings of the Church.
- Acknowledge, understand and respect difference and diversity, recognising that we are all unique and loved by God.
- Enable children to consider moral issues.
- Give time for quiet reflection, prayer and other appropriate responses.
Worship should be a positive experience for all children. We aim to allow them the opportunity to explore different approaches to Christian worship.
Here is our Collective Worship policy
Christian Values
Our collective worship is based on a Christian value each term. We run a 3-year cycle, exploring the following values:
We encourage parents to talk to their children about the values we are thinking about each term and how they are reflected in your family.
Church Links
Bathford Church School works closely with the community and has strong links with our local church, St. Swithun’s. Welcome | St Swithun’s Bathford (stswithunsbathford.co.uk)
