Our Christian Distinctiveness
What Makes Us Different?
‘You will know them by what they do’.
Matthew 7:16
As a Church school and one which, prior to conversation to an academy in March 2018, was a Voluntary Aided Church of England School, we benefit from a long held aim to serve our community by providing education of the highest quality, underpinned by our six core Christian Values of Love, Joyfulness, Respect, Forgiveness, Perseverance, Fairness.
We believe there is a tangible difference from being an ‘excellent school’ and an ‘excellent Church school’. Across the school day and across the curriculum our children and staff lives those Christian Values and appreciate how living a Christian life makes a difference. We approach everything through the lens of those Christian Values. From our school policies and documentation, to the heartbeat of Collective Worship, to the teaching of all curriculum subjects, it is obvious that our school is distinctive.
Families select our school for many reasons, but one of the key reasons is the educational and spiritual development we offer to our children, based on the life and teachings of Jesus. As such, we are an inclusive and joyful school that celebrates and nurtures every child. We challenge and support our children to reach their full potential and become compassionate, courageous individuals. Our creative and rich curriculum and committed staff promote a lifelong love of learning, encouraging children to become caring and confident advocates for others and our world.
Our staff choose our school because we celebrate individual talents and expertise. Our teaching policies are not designed to be a ‘straight jacket’ approach, but rather agree a broad set of principles that teachers interpret carefully when designing themes, topics and lessons that inspire both themselves and their children. Teachers and support staff enjoy a great degree of professional judgement and are trusted as professionals to inspire, enrich and bring joy to learning.
Children love our school because they feel valued, cared for and comfortable as the person God made them to be.
Parents have a right to withdraw their children from RE lessons. If this is something you would like to discuss, please speak with the Head teacher
Vision and Values
Our mission statement and ethos
The Church of England vision for education is for all children to
Have life, life in all its fullness
John 10:10
Bathwick St. Mary Church School’s ethos is built upon our Christian Values, which support our children, staff and school community to experience and enjoy life in all its fullness. Bathwick St. Mary Church School has long held core inclusive Christian values at the heart of what we do. Starting in early 2018, Governors, staff, the School Council and our children, refined, refreshed and developed a fresh expression of our school mission statement and our core Christian Values.
For more information please download: Our Vision, Mission and Values
Our Christian Values
Values help define our character and ethos and by doing so affect our behaviour, beliefs and actions. Bathwick St. Mary Church School’s Christian Values are represented by six words that give purpose, direction and a firm grounding in all we seek to do.- We love others, ourselves and God
- We respect others and the world around us
- We forgive others and ourselves
- We persevere and aspire to be our best using our unique gifts
- We seek fairness in everything
- We celebrate the gift of joy in each day
Our six Christian Values are physically represented in each class and in the hall where a beautiful piece of art has been created involving each child from Year 1 to Year 6. The artwork is on permanent display in the hall for all our school community to share, enjoy and regularly revisit and refer to through the school day, week, term and year.
Our mission
Our mission explains what we are doing and why what we’re doing matters and how we enable all our children to flourish:
Bathwick is an inclusive and joyful school that provides a stimulating environment in which we celebrate and nurture every child. Through an inspiring education rooted in core Christian values, we challenge and support our children to reach their full potential and become compassionate, courageous individuals. Our creative and rich curriculum and committed staff promote a lifelong love of learning, encouraging children to become caring and confident advocates for others and our world.
Our vision
A vision is an aspiration for the future. Bathwick St. Mary Church School’s vision is built upon our Christian Values and complements and enhances our Mission. We aim to nurture every child to be the best they can be and by each member of our community striving to do their best, we all will be:
'Pursuing good; achieving excellence'
Collective Worship
As a Church School we celebrate our links with our local parish churches, St. Mary's and St. John's. You can find the Trust Collective Worship policy through Trust Policies and School Procedures.
Our inspiring Collective Worship themes are as follows: