Our Christian Vision and Values
As the Good Shepherd tends his sheep, so we nurture our children in a safe, secure environment to ensure they thrive and fulfil their potential as good shepherds of the future.
The value of LOVE is visible in every area of school life. Our inclusive community is bound together with this golden thread and is further strengthened by the Christian values of COURAGE, RESPECT and TRUTH.
As a church school, our school vision is rooted in a Christian narrative, the story of the Good Shepherd (John 10) and The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15, Matthew 18). The story encapsulates perfectly what we think is special about our school — just as the Shepherd gives his all to secure the safety of every last sheep and help them thrive, so our staff give their all to create a safe, loving environment for every pupil, so they can fulfil their potential. We teach the children to identify with the sheep, and feel safe and unconditionally loved; but also to identify with the Shepherd, and appreciate how far each of us can be expected to go for the good of all.
Our Values
Love is our over- arching value and is reflected throughout school life. Children at our school are well known as individuals; we aim to support every child in whatever way they need. We teach and nurture respect and inclusion and work hard to celebrate diversity.
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
John 13:34-35
Courage is reflected in how we enable children to cope with the challenge of new learning, how we support them to develop a growth mindset and how we encourage them to express their opinions confidently.
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.
Corinthians 16:13-14
Truth between every member of the school community allows the strong relationships we value to be built, maintained and flourish.
Therefore, putting away lying, let every man speak truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:25
Respect is reflected in how we care for ourselves, each other, the environment and our community.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”
Matthew 7:12
The Good Shepherd – click here
Rollright is special in many ways
Central to the heart of our school is the abiding Christian belief that every child should be loved and valued as an individual. Inclusion and acceptance are key principles which enable all children in our school to thrive and reach their potential. We are passionate about developing the ‘whole’ person and work hard with our children to develop skills of perseverance and commitment to both their learning and to their place in our close-knit community. To achieve this, we work hard to enable our children, who come from a variety of backgrounds and from a very wide catchment area, to see themselves as one body through our Acts of Collective Worship, our House Team activities and through special days such as Maths Days and special weeks such as Book Week. Our children are actively encouraged to serve others and take on responsibilities within our school community.
Ours is a peaceful, though happy, lively and busy school. Enthusiasm is evident but conflict is rarely seen. Our Christian ethos, which has the repair of relationships and an understanding of forgiveness at its heart, contributes to this. We manage any upsets using Restorative Justice principles; all of our children are taught about their feelings so there is a high level of emotional literacy, and we educate our older children in conflict management so they can support others should the need arise. Forgiveness is key as we value repairing and maintaining relationships and we do not seek to allocate blame. Adults model Christian Values and our children are witnesses of this on a daily basis. The older children, having grown up within this nurturing environment, naturally care for the younger children. Ours is also a very friendly school. Children and staff joining us always comment on how quickly they feel at home. Relationships between staff and children, and staff and parents or carers are very strong. Visitors frequently comment on the warm atmosphere. The close relationships, continually nurtured, result in trust between members of our school community.
Our ‘Values Stars’ offer children opportunities to value each other and those receiving them are always proud to do so. Our pupil feedback demonstrates that our children are happy. The culture of respect and feeling included is strong, so insensitive acts are rare. We manage any behaviour issues using Restorative Justice which allows us to have meaningful open conversations or circle times to resolve difficult situations. All children want to be in a situation where everything is fair and there is a strong culture of fairness in school. We support this and extend it to a social concern for the wider world demonstrated through our Eco Club who put on assemblies for us, our charity work throughout the year led by the School Council, and whole school responses to natural disasters, often prompted by individual children.
We enable each child to develop their spiritual growth and moral understanding. We aim to foster an appreciation of the richness and diversity of God’s creation through lots of practical opportunities to get out and about. Forest Fridays are a weekly opportunity for the FS and KS1 to consider the natural awe and wonder of outdoors. We have a variety of visits for all of our children including visits to museums, the opera and more! We aim to support our children in understanding that the good things in life are a blessing and not a right. We do this through enabling them to appreciate the differences between their experiences and that of other less advantaged children particularly when we are responding to natural disasters or a charity campaign. In society today where there are such rapid changes and developments, we believe it’s challenging to ensure our children appreciate what has enduring value. Giving the children rich and varied experiences, with time to reflect, helps with this.