Religious Education

'Let all that you do be done in love'

1 Corinthians 16:14

Christian Distinctiveness

As a Church of England school, our Christian vision and values underpin everything we do. We are proud to have close links to our local church community and the Diocese of Chelmsford.

Our Vision:

Our Christian vision is underpinned by Jesus’ example of love for all and is summarised in 1 Corinthians 16:14

‘Let all that you do be done in love.’

In everyday school life, this means that we aim to love as Jesus shows us.

We ASPIRE for all our children to be confident, happy and caring individuals who develop a love of learning, living responsibly in God’s world.

Our school community is underpinned by a strong Christian vision of love. We teach our children to:

Love and live as Jesus showed us
Love ourselves and others
Love and celebrate differences
Love and respect the world God has provided us

Some of our families are of the Christian faith, but many are not. We see this as incredibly valuable; through sharing our different views, beliefs and opinions, we are able to truly come together as a community.

ASPIRE VALUES

To help achieve this vision, we follow six core values:

Aspiration
Strength
Perseverance
Integrity
Responsibility
Empathy

Aspiration – we aspire to love one another as Jesus shows us and to be the best we can be.

Strength – we believe we can be better by being courageous enough to overcome the 'ow' moments.

Perseverance – we keep on trying even when we find things difficult.

Integrity – we are consistent, whole and honest in what we say, think and do.

Responsibility – we show love by taking care of ourselves, others and God's wonderful world.

Empathy - we see things from other perspectives which help us to be more respectful, tolerant and loving towards them.

The culture and ethos of the school are centred around the values of the school, which include aspiration, integrity and empathy. From the moment pupils start at school, they are taught about these values and how they contribute to improving their character. Consequently, pupils show high levels of respect for one another. Certificates and rewards reinforce the importance of showing these values each day in school. (Ofsted 2022)

School Statement on Spirituality

This statement is underpinned by the school’s vision and values:

To talk about spirituality is, essentially, to talk about something which is beyond words. To make conversations about spirituality more accessible to every member of our school community, Great Waltham C of E Primary School has chosen to follow ideas developed by the Education Department at the Diocese of Gloucester.

This language of spirituality begins from a Christian understanding that everyone is a valued creation, individually and uniquely made by God, like pots made by a potter (Isaiah 64:8). Yet, in life things happen that impact on the physical ‘pot’ of life and create cracks that provide a glimpse of something ‘beyond’ the tangible. Christians would view this as an opportunity to relate to the Divine Creator God.

Cracks may be caused when something so good and breath-taking happens that the pot expands and cracks – the wows of life.

Cracks may happen when something challenging happens and threatens the comfort of everyday – the ows of life.

Cracks can also happen in the stillness and ordinariness of everyday – the nows of life, when a moment of stillness, a pause or prayer creates a crack in the normal, physical everyday.

In these special moments there is a spiritual opportunity. Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with golden joinery or glue, creates something that has been broken into something even more beautiful. Using this metaphor, the wows, ows and nows of life offer the possibility of cracks that are filled with gold and make the pot even more beautiful. The gold in the cracks reflect a little of the wonder of spirituality.

Great Waltham C of E Primary School uses this language and the concepts of wows, ows and nows. These are used to explore relationships with

ourselves
others
the wider natural world and beyond
and offering the invitation to relate to God

Religious education

Our RE lessons are based on the new Essex Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. The syllabus promotes a multi-disciplinary study of religion and world views, developing children’s knowledge and curiosity about the world in which they live. It prepares them both for life within the large and diverse County of Essex, but also in the wider world, where they will encounter a huge range of ideas and beliefs.