And thank you for your comments on what else you feel we can do as a school to promote our Christian identity. We thought it would be helpful to list these below with examples of what we're doing and our plans for the future:
More Singing
So many of you listed this as a strength of the school. Currently, we have one dedicated Singing Worship each Tuesday. The songs learnt link to our half-termly value as well as the Christian calendar. A particular favourite of everyone's is My Lighthouse. As well as Tuesday's Worship, music and singing take place in every other Worship throughout the week.
Youth Pastor Involvement
We've had a meeting with the Revd Mike Haslam who Chairs the Centre for Chaplaincy in Education Board of Trustees. Next year, we are looking at introducing elements of this into our school with the help of the Diocese.
We have also contacted Cranleigh's Baptist Church who are going to organise workships for the children during school time.
Learning more about the Bible
As a church school, 60% of our R.E. curriculum is Christianity based. This is the national standard as followed by all Church of England schools. We follow the Surrey SACRE which can be found on our website. Each class has a reflection area with a Bible which the children can access at any time. Wednesday's Worship is based on a Bible story which links to the current value. There is a different story each week.
Christian Clubs
As part of our research into Chaplaincy, we are looking into providing more opportunities for children to discuss their faith and spirituality with a dedicated member of staff during the school day. Spirituality is a key focus for SIAMS. It can take many forms and shouldn't necessarily be religious-based; for example, mindfulness activities are considered spiritual. If you would like us to provide an after-school club with a Christian focus, please do get in contact.
Class Worships for Parents to Attend
Throughout the year, every KS2 class leads a church service at St. Nicolas where parents are invited to attend. Reception and KS1 children perform The Nativity each year for parents, too. Thanks to your feedback, we acknowledge that individual class worships are wanted by some parents. We will therefore look into this and keep you updated.
More Visible Evidence of Kindness and Respect
Each week, children from each class are awarded Ready, Respectful, Safe certificates for demonstrating one or more of our values. These awards are highlighted in the newsletter. We have also updated our Behaviour Policy which focuses firmly on the importance of demonstrating kindness and respect. We will be emailing this to you all shortly; however, it can be found in the 'Policies' section of our website. As a school, we aim to provide support to the most vulnerable and raise awareness of key issues. We have taken part in the Ukrainian shoebox appeal; our choir have sung for the residents of Knowle Park Nursing Home; we donated food to Cranleigh's food bank; we took part in Children's Mental Health Week; and we arranged a community cohesion meeting with the local MP, Police, Church and Surrey County Council. In March, we'll be raising money for Red Nose Day (more information to follow soon!) Please do let us know if you have any more ideas!
We have created a dedicated 'Christian Distinctiveness' page on our website to provide detailed information for you all on our Christian ethos, vision, Collective Worship, what our children are discussing, reading and singing, and community links related to faith. We hope this will prove helpful.