EtchinghamChristian Values
CHURCH STATUS - SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
As a voluntary controlled Church of England Primary School, we want our children to experience a Christian based education. Collective Worship and Religious Education have a central role to play in the life of our school, contributing to the child’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Our distinctive ethos is shaped by the importance it gives to Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development in the context of the Christian faith and beliefs.
The school has a special relationship with the community of Etchingham through its association with the Parish Church of The Assumption of Blessed Mary and St Nicholas. We attend the church regularly for special events and celebrations, which reflect the Liturgical Calendar including Christmas, Easter and Harvest. Pupils sing, dance, read from the Bible, perform poetry and experience and communicate the essence of an occasion in many different ways.
Our local Vicar regularly comes to the school to lead our Collective Worship and she also takes part in these special Celebrations.
As a Church of England School, we are subject to Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS). Our latest report is available below.
Christian Distinctiveness Gallery
Riverside Federation Prayer
External Consultant Report Summary February 2016
- ‘As always, displays are vibrant and show what pupils have been learning.
- There are many examples of SMSC in displays.
- The Christian ethos of the school is evident and this is embedded in the way that staff relate to pupils and that pupils relate to each other.
- The schools’ core values of respect and tolerance are strong and evident in day to day life. Staff really care about pupils and have high expectations of each and every one
Prayer Spaces
We create ‘PRAYER SPACES’ twice within the year. These have been promoted by the diocese and will be available for pupils, staff and governors to visit over the period of our Harvest Celebration.
Prayer spaces are now used in many church schools to encourage and inspire personal reflection/ prayer.
People of all faiths and none, have the opportunity to stop and reflect on a given theme.
A temporary space will be created for a few days and then the area will revert to its normal usage.
http://www.prayerspacesinschools.com/
Our pupils will have an organised opportunity to visit the Prayer Space but may choose to do so on their own at another time, or with parents.
Butterfly Cross
To celebrate our new School Building and our distinctiveness as a Church School with a Christian Ethos, we created a beautiful Cross formed of butterflies. Every child and member of staff in the School designed their own butterfly as part of the whole piece of art.
This butterfly cross:
- Celebrates our community: everyone contributed to the creation of the artwork;
- Celebrates our diversity: each individual created a butterfly of their own unique design;
- Reminds us of Jesus' resurrection: the Caterpillar becomes a Chrysalis and then is born again to a glorious new life.
Our Mosaic
We were very fortunate to be able to employ professional artist, Jane Churchill, to work with the children to create a wonderful Mosaic for our School. Every child in the School contributed to the work as a whole.
The Mosaic is designed to reflect our Church School Status and has some significant Christian Symbolism:
