Our Vision and Values
‘Enabling all to Flourish: Commitment, Courage, Love’
1 John 3:18 ‘My children, our love should be not just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.’
Our Vision
At St Paul's, we aim to provide a safe and nurturing environment, based on our school's Christian values, where all feel confident to learn, face challenges and take risks We ensure that all are motivated, engaged and supported in becoming the best possible version of themselves - 'Enabling all to Flourish'.
Our School's Christian Values
The Bible verse found in 1 John 3:18 ‘My children, our love should be not just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action’ underpins daily life at St Paul's. Our school’s Christian values - Commitment, Courage, Love - are more than just words, they are truly lived.
Identifying and Strengthening our School's Values
During the last 5 years, our school’s vision and values have been developed and strengthened based on our lived experiences as a community.
In 2017, we began with the motto: ‘Enabling all to Flourish’ based on the Bible verse found in John 10v10: ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’. Working with the whole school community, we identified 11 positive learning behaviours that we wanted each member of our community to develop and demonstrate in their daily lives, using examples from the bible to support and strengthen understanding, and enable them to become the best possible version of themselves.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our community wanted to strengthen this further through identification of 3 key Christian values. We spent time reflecting on our community’s response to this crisis and on 1 John 3:18 ‘My children, our love should be not just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.’ This led us to our 3 core values: Commitment, Courage and Love.
These 3 values were (and continue to be) consistently demonstrated by our school community, supporting us in not only navigating this challenging time but in continuing to grow together. Our most recent Ofsted inspection (January 2022) highlighted that “The school’s values are an important part of daily life”.
Full Theological Underpinning Document
Exploring our Values
Whilst we promote all the gospel values, we have chosen three values that are particularly important to us and at the heart of our vision because we want all at St Paul’s to demonstrate Commitment through action and intent, to show Courage when faced with challenges and to experience Love and what that brings.
Commitment
Image and Reflection created by Bella and Eliot (Year 6 Faith Reps 2021-2022)
"Commitment at St Paul’s is working hard and taking time. Commitment at St Paul’s is showing respect for our families and friends. Commitment at St Paul’s is taking part in clubs and being dedicated to jobs and roles in school."
Courage
Image and Reflection created by Louisa and Jess (Year 6 Faith Reps 2021-2022)
"Courage at St Paul’s is trying challenges and playing with people that you don’t usually play with. It’s giving everything a go. It’s important to give your best in everything and trying new things. When you think you can’t do it you need to take little steps."
Love
Image and Reflection created by Jasmine and Kholla (Year 6 Faith Reps 2021-2022)
"Love at St Paul’s is caring for others and using kind words. It is really listening to others around you."
Living our School Values
1 John 3v18: “My children, our love should not just be words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.”
Image and Reflection created by Kyan and Obeth (Year 6 Faith Reps 2021-2022)
"God in his actions of love, courage and commitment gave us the greatest gift in his son Jesus Christ. At St Paul’s we want to show love not just in our words, but in our actions too and Jesus taught us to."
Developing Positive Learning Behaviours
We focus on the development of our 11 positive learning behaviours within all members of our community to support us all in demonstrating our school's values of Commitment, Courage and Love in all that we do. Below are some examples of how our positive learning behaviours were seen in action during our most recent Ofsted inspection (January 2022):
Happy
“Pupils are safe and feel happy in school.”
Resilient
“Leaders have high expectations of pupils. They encourage pupils to take risks and learn from their mistakes.”
Respectful
“Pupils behave well both in and outside of lessons. They are courteous and respectful to each other.”
Caring
“Parents and carers said the school feels like a community.”
Collaborative
“Pupils value the strong working relationships they have with staff and the friendships they have with their peers.”
Reflective
“Through these events, leaders aim for pupils to develop skills of empathy and compassion.”
Creative
“Leaders carefully link educational visits to pupils’ learning. For instance, pupils visited The National Gallery to extend their knowledge of famous artists in art.”
Hard-working
“Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects.”
Curious
“Pupils are taught about children whose lives are different to their own.”
Confident
“Pupils take part in democratic activities such as voting in pupil leaders. They enjoy having areas of responsibility in school.”
Aspirational
“Senior leaders are reflective and continually look for improvements.”
Working in Partnership with the Community
We aim to work in partnership with parents and carers, providing workshops and other opportunities to build confidence in supporting their children at home. We ensure that our staff engage in regular training, in order to adapt and improve our approaches to education. We support our staff in continuing their own professional development and look for opportunities to work alongside other schools and professionals, providing a strong role model for our pupils of being life-long learners.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5v11
