The Manor Church of England Primary School
Describe your image
Aspire, Believe, Achieve
Shine like stars in the sky
Our Christian School
At The Manor CE Primary, we are dedicated to providing an excellent education to all of our pupils whilst also promoting their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
We are passionate about our Christian distinctiveness and seek to provide a holistic education that allows our pupils to discover their unique gifts and use them to make a positive difference in the world. Our children are encouraged to develop and grow in a supportive and nurturing environment.
We actively promote our Christian distinctiveness by encouraging our pupils to explore their faith and develop their understanding of the world around them. Below, we have shared some of the ways in which we support our children to develop spiritually in school.
Our whole school vision is rooted firmly in Christian beliefs. Our vision is for all members of our school community to 'Shine like stars in the sky - Philippians 2:15. As a community we can shine like stars in the sky by living our Christian vision and values.
Aspire to be the best we can be was agreed upon as God wants us all to be the best version of ourselves; he wants us to live the best life we possibly can and every time we struggle or face weakness he will show his strength in our lives.
Believe we are all unique and deserve to be valued was agreed upon as God created us all uniquely – we are all God’s masterpieces and each of us is special and highly valued.
Achieve anything we set our minds to if we try our best was agreed upon as God wants to give us strength to achieve and accomplish our goals - if we trust and follow God he will lead us into great achievements and accomplishments.
Whilst our school vision is a theologically rooted Christian vision, and our Christian distinctiveness underpins this school vision, values and ‘shine like stars in the sky’ curriculum – it was felt this vision could also be clearly understood and resonated with all members of our community, including those with other faiths and those with no faith.
As a church school, we use ‘Understanding Christianity’ alongside the South Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus and our own Curriculum Drivers (Spirituality, The Arts and Community) to help achieve our vision. We use these, our Christian Values, Collective Worship and our Faith & Spirituality Days to facilitate this intent.
Each class has a Reflection Area which links the termly Value to their thoughts and discussions within Class Collective Worship (captured in the Pause for Thought books). The Main story for the Value of the term is displayed here.
At The Manor, we focus on six Christian Values (Thankfulness, Compassion, Honesty, Forgiveness, Friendship & Courage) which underpin our entire curriculum. These Christian Values form the basis for our daily Collective Worship and reflection on our attitudes and behaviours in our weekly ‘Pause For Thought’.
Children who are spotted demonstrating our Christian Values are given a sticker to consolidate understanding.
Class Collective Worship happens in every classroom, usually on a Wednesday morning. Worship is linked to the termly Value via the Pause For Thought. An example Flipchart is sent to staff from the RE Leader, which can then be adjusted to suit the age of learners within the class. The flipchart takes the children through the thought process of ‘Windows, Mirrors and Doors’ which helps them to reflect on the question from different perspectives. Children are encouraged to lead parts of the Collective Worship and plan one Class Collective Worship per term.
To celebrate Christian Creation, Incarnation and Salvation, the whole school focuses for one day in terms 1, 2 and 4 on these areas of the Understanding Christianity syllabus. With every class revisiting the strands each year at a higher level; the children’s understanding is consolidated over their time at The Manor. An example of learning from each class is kept in a Faith Day Book.
Spirituality Days.
In terms 3, 5 and 6, we hold a Spirituality Day for the whole school. A theme is chosen and teachers are encouraged to provide stimulating activities which will develop children’s ability to understand their own Spirituality. These will bear in mind our definition of spirituality which is a relationship with themselves, others, with God (or higher being) and with the wider world. We encourage children to think about what they feel, believe and value with respect to the theme. An example of learning from each class is kept in a Spirituality Day Book.
Christian Values Newsletter
At the beginning of each term, a newsletter is sent home to families outlining our Christian Value and story for the term with suggestions for discussion and activities families may like to do at home to help children understand our Values.
Peace Garden
An area in the corner of the upper playground provides a peaceful place to sit and reflect during busy play times and lunchtimes.
Lunchtime prayers
Each class takes the time to say a lunchtime prayer before having their lunch. They choose their prayers from a class prayer book which the children are invited to add to.
Spirituality and Reflection Area
As well as reflection areas in the classroom, there is a reflection area in the Central Learning Zone, where children who need time to reflect can sit quietly.
Natre Spirited Arts Competition
The school has entered the Spirited Arts competition for many years. This usually takes place during the Summer term as part of a Spirituality Day.
Faith Visits.
At the heart of our vision for RE is to develop, in our pupils, an understanding and tolerance for World Faiths and Views. In order to support learning in the classroom, individual classes visit places of worship (or receive visits from visiting speakers) from different Faiths and World Views, related to their focused units. The School has achieved both the Bronze and Gold WIRE Award for Widening Inclusion in Religious Education.
Some of our recent trips and visits include visiting The Sikh Gurdwara, meeting a member of the Buddhist Community and having a visitor join us of Hindu faith.
Global Citizenship at The Manor
Alongside our children’s understanding of their local and wider community, we aspire to educate our children about the wider global issues we currently face. Our curriculum ensures our children are successful members in their local community, but we also believe that they should develop as global citizens, individuals who one day will become confident, agents of change. We aspire to foster in our children a sense of belonging in the global community, who can effectively debate and problem solve the problems of tomorrow.
During the COVID pandemic families started to reach out to us as they were really struggling financially and were struggling for food. In response to this we sent up a community foodbank from school. After Covid a Community kitchen was set up locally, which meant there was no longer any need for our school foodbank. We work closely with ‘Fromeside together’ – a group established from the Fromeside Benefice to support families when needed. When we have a family in
need of financial support, we work alongside this group to get additional food parcels/ financial budgeting support, funding for school uniform and for school trips. We also are given a substantial donation from this group at Christmas, where we as a school sourced and organised food parcels for our families most in need for the Christmas period. Working alongside ‘Fromeside Together’ is a thriving on-going relationship, with us seeking appropriate support from them for our families when needed. The link with this group is incredibly important to us and highly valued as it supports families in real times of need. In addition to this, whilst the door step food bank was really needed by the community when we established it, it is no longer needed. However, as a school we want to continue our work in making a change to the local community. As a school we are aware that some families struggle to buy reading books for themselves, and this also makes it difficult for some families to develop a real love of reading. We have therefore developed a ‘Community Book Swap’, for our whole local community to swap books and promote a love of reading within our wider community.