Vision, Values and Aims

School Vision: 

We believe that every child is made in the image of God; inherently valuable and unique. Jesus is the light of the world and God has placed the light of the Holy Spirit within each of us:

Let your light shine to reach your God-given potential.

Let your light shine courageously. 

Let your light shine as a beacon of hope.

Let your light shine ~ be the best we can be!

Matthew 5:16

Values: 

Kindness, Respect, Responsibility, Perseverance, Honesty, Friendship, Courage and Forgiveness

Aims: 

With our Christian distinctiveness at the heart of all we do, we aim to provide the highest quality education for all.  We strive to equip each child with the skills and values they require to fulfil their God given potential.

How Our Vision Shapes Life at St James's

We are a large primary school with a warm, village school approach, where friendships and kindness are a top priority. Our dedicated team knows each child as an individual, celebrating their unique talents and supporting their holistic development. We always look forward to welcoming new children and families into our St James's family and build long-lasting relationships with families.

We believe that every child is made in the image of God - inherently valuable and unique. Our vision is to be a beacon of hope, where the light of the Holy Spirit within each child is nurtured and encouraged to shine brightly.

As a Voluntary Aided school, we are guided by our Christian ethos, which is reflected in our eight core values: Kindness, Respect, Responsibility, Perseverance, Honesty, Friendship, Courage, and Forgiveness. These values underpin everything we do, shaping the way we interact with one another and fostering a culture of compassion and understanding.

Our restorative themed behaviour policy, is based on forgiveness and fresh starts, creating an environment where children feel safe, supported and empowered to reach their God-given potential. Our dedicated pastoral team facilitate a nurturing environment for all stakeholders and our approachable teachers are always available to support families, ensuring that each child receives the personalised attention they need to succeed.

We offer a wide range of extracurricular activities, from competitive sports to Rotary competitions, allowing our pupils to explore their interests and develop their skills. At the heart of our school is a commitment to being the best we can be.

Through our language-rich environments and innovative Early Years approaches, we strive to unlock the potential in every child, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and values to thrive from their very foundations.

We are proud to be a 'Good' school, as recognised by Ofsted, and we are committed to maintaining and building upon this strong foundation. By working together as a community, we will continue to shine a light of hope, empowering our pupils to become confident, well-rounded individuals who are ready to make a positive impact on the world.

Let Your Light Shine To Reach Your God-given Potential

Our curriculum establishes a secure knowledge base. We have considered the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are required to achieve academic excellence at primary and secondary school, and beyond. Our curriculum is grounded in evidence about how pupils learn and retain knowledge in the long term. High quality teaching and well-planned learning activities, mean that children of all abilities experience success, challenge and enjoyment across all subjects.

At St James’s, we have developed a question based curriculum, where children learn through meaningful questioning and exploration. Teachers aim to spark curiosity and support pupils in developing personal learning skills and a lifelong love of learning. Our broad and balanced curriculum is full of experiences planned to engage and excite, including visits and visitors, Stunning Starts and Fantastic Finishes. Learning Ambassadors provide the pupils with a voice to directly influence and develop the teaching and learning within school.

Our curriculum reflects the school’s pride in local industrial heritage and we have worked closely with Historic England to ensure that our children have a clear understanding of the significance of the area in which they live. In unison, Geography field work is integrated into all units of work and is designed to build pupils’ sense of place within the local area and beyond.

Let Your Light Shine Courageously

With courage as one of our school values, we encourage our pupils to take risks and use mistakes as learning opportunities in a safe environment.

Growth mindset is interwoven into lessons, collective worship and whole school events. As a result, over time, pupils build their skillsets in terms of resilience, perseverance and independence, with showing courage as the vital ingredient. Our curriculum activities are opportunities for teaching and practice of these skills, for example, through maths problems, science experiments and zip wires on residentials!

Planned opportunities throughout our curriculum to further develop oracy skills, aim to create confident and articulate speakers.

Our lunchtime provision is designed to allow pupils to invent, risk take and learn through play. Our anti-bullying programme ‘No Bystanders’, encourages pupils to be courageous and make difficult choices to protect others.

In Collective Worship, pupils have the opportunity to courageously reflect and respond to challenging themes. Courageous advocacy is taught explicitly as a concept and modelled and guided by staff, so that pupils develop a secure understanding of what it means to be an ‘agent of change’. This ‘blue print’ then allows inspired pupils to act as courageous advocates with increased independence over time.

Let Your Light Shine As A Beacon Of Hope

We aim to develop our pupils’ understanding of how their choices and actions can impact on others. We often talk of being role models to others and our ability to bring light where there is darkness.

Pupils learn how shining their lights can make a real difference, but also how the lights of many in unison can have impact on a larger scale. The children are exposed to the lives of inspirational people through units of work and collective worship, who act as shining lights themselves and examples to our pupils.

We support children in viewing the world as future local, national and global citizens for example, by providing opportunities for them to reflect and respond to real-world news stories, environmental issues and key events. By supporting different charities throughout the year, pupils explore thankfulness and generosity as important values.