We are a Church School

At Prestbury St. Mary’s C of E Junior School we are proud of our Church School distinctiveness. We are linked closely with St. Mary’s Church and the community involved with the church, however, our school welcomes children from all faiths and those of none.

We aim to provide our pupils with the opportunities to:

• explore what it means to have a Christian faith, to explore the faith of others and those of no faith
• critically discuss issues of faith, belief and God
• learn within an education of excellence rooted in Christian values

We worship together

At Prestbury St Mary’s C of E Junior we experience our faith through a daily act of worship

• Monday – This collective worship is led by the Executive Head Teacher
• Tuesday- We are joined by our St Mary’s Church  ‘Open the Book’ team
• Wednesday – either a class worship session where we discuss and explore the term’s value or collective worship lead by the Deputy Head
• Thursday- Collective worship lead by the pupils or by local clergy
• Friday – Good News Service where we come together to celebrate the week’s events and to worship

Each act of worship is based around the term’s Christian value. Sometimes we share Bible stories, stories from other faiths or other stories that help us to explore the value further. We also sing songs and hymns, many of which were learnt during our recent ISingPop event. We have the opportunity for reflection and quiet thought as well as guided prayer. Our prayer is very important to us. It was written by a pupil from the school and encompasses our beliefs and values.  We ensure our worship and prayer life is deeply engaging and provides children the opportunity to be closer to God.

Our shared Christian Values

We seek to promote our shared values based on Christian teaching throughout the school life so that children come to make behavioural choices based on Christian values.  These values inform the school’s vision, aims and ethos, the design of curriculum, all policies, the planning for spiritual and moral development as well as the school’s management and governance. Every opportunity is taken to celebrate the demonstration of these values in children’s behaviour, both in school and also during events outside school and in the local community. A child is awarded a ‘value pebble’ if they demonstrate any of our core values of – respect, love, honesty, forgiveness, perseverance and responsibility. Pebbles are placed in our Values Vase and when it is full, we all celebrate with a special treat or event. We weave our values into all aspects of school life and share them in our daily language; they are important to staff, children and stakeholders.

Our relationship with the St Mary’s Church

At Prestbury ST Mary’s Cof E Junior school we have a very strong relationship with local clergy and the local worshipping community .We go to the church for lots of visits and events (Christmas, Easter, Community Services) and as part of our RE work.

We value our relationship with Reverend Nick and his team and enjoy exploring ways we can develop and enrich our relationship. Many of our pupil’s families go to the church and attend the Sunday Family Service.

Our Teaching

We ensure Religious Education and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are very strong features of the school as they help children understand the faith of others and the importance of listening and reflection as key parts of the faith journey.

Each classroom has a dedicated area for worship and reflection and the children have the opportunity to explore the Christian Values during a dedicated teaching session.

Our RE Curriculum has been carefully designed to teach about a range of faiths including Christianity. RE is taught in every year group and we have special RE books that move  from year to year.

We are currently designing our spiritual area at the moment, a space for children to use for quiet reflection in school. As a Church school we strive to promote spiritual wellbeing. We ensure children are able to develop a sense of identity, self-worth and personal meaning and purpose. We understand that spiritual growth begins first and foremost with believing and following Jesus Christ. We do this through our faith. We ensure that our spirituality grows and matures through prayer, through learning about the Word of God, through sharing our blessings with others and through our collective worship.

Our TEAM

The Prestbury St. Mary’s Federation’s vision is to deliver an outstanding learning experience for all 4 to 11 year old pupils through a federation that is effectively and ambitiously led, underpinned by our Core Christian Values.  For us to achieve this vision we recognise the importance of working as a ‘TEAM’ across the federation where all stakeholders work together to ‘Try their best and Enjoy all aspects of school life in order to Achieve More and fulfil their potential.’ Our ‘TEAM’ motto underpins every aspect of school life and is key to ensuring high levels of motivation, creativity, enthusiasm and excitement in learning:

TRY

We strive to do our best and persevere especially when faced with a challenge

ENJOY

We enjoy learning and have a positive attitude to our work and each other through showing respect, love, honesty and forgiveness

ACHIEVE

By working hard we make progress and achieve the goals that we set for ourselves taking responsibility for our learning and achievement

MORE

We are ambitious, creative and are always looking for ways to improve making sure that everything we do is underpinned by our Core Christian Values

ROMANS 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.