The staff, governors, pupils and parents of Tibberton CE First School have collaborated to produce our school aims, vision and values.

We have agreed that, together, we will strive to ‘Achieve, Believe, Care.’

Our Aims: To help each individual flourish…

• To be happy, caring and welcoming schools rooted firmly in Christian values and in principles that safeguard and promote the welfare of all within the school communities.
• To provide a high quality education and ensure high standards of achievement for every child.
• To provide opportunities for our children to develop their spiritual selves, their respect and understanding of their own faith, beliefs and culture and that of others.
• To be family orientated schools that at the heart of our communities where all are respected and valued.
• To foster successful partnerships with parents, carers, the church and local communities.
• To develop our children’s spirituality through encouraging curiosity, fostering a love of life and nurturing a sense of awe and wonder in the world around us.
• To develop and celebrate our British Values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, respect for and acceptance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.
• To create successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens who are aspirational.
• To encourage children to be resilient and resourceful so that they are able to adapt and grow in an ever-changing world.
• To develop enthusiastic, positive and independent children who are equipped with life skills and who are prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
• To open our children’s minds to a world of possibilities by promoting risk-taking (in a safe environment) and creativity.
• To help our children to achieve economic well-being by developing effective team work, communication, problem-solving and leadership skills.
• To promote a life-long love of learning by providing a stimulating, rich, exciting and engaging curriculum tailored to meet individual needs.

Reflecting our Aims:

• Our vision reflects the aims of our school federation, and our core purpose of enabling every individual to flourish, through a commitment of serving with GRACE. This is fundamental to realising Jesus’ promise of ‘life in all its fullness.’

Reflecting our Christian Vison:

• At the heart of our school family is our vision and commitment to serving with Grace. We will give our very best to our school communities and every individual within our communities, adult and child alike.

‘Grace is a gift from God.’ (Ephesians 2:8)

• In reflecting God’s gift of unmerited favour it is imperative that we offer Grace in serving others, simply because they are them. Not because of merit, attainment or significance but through LOVE and forgiveness.

“Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37)

• In serving with Grace we provide a broad, balanced and inclusive curriculum which allows every child to flourish. By supporting the needs of every child we allow them to grow academically, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically, socially and morally whilst preparing them for their next steps in life.

Reflecting our Core Christian Values

• Our vision is supported by the taught Christian values that permeate all aspects of school life. At our schools, we are committed to developing strong and meaningful partnerships between all stakeholders. The school has consulted with pupils, parents, staff and governors to establish a set of core values that are shared and understood by everyone involved in the life of the school. Through this process 6 core values were identified. As a Church school, these values are very important since they underpin everything that we do. The value given greatest importance by the school communities is love.

The Greatest is Love

• Our vision recognises the significance of the key value ‘love’ and its pivotal importance in Christian teachings. There are two key passages from scripture that emphasise the importance of love. Jesus talked about the two greatest commandments:
• ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength [and] You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Mark 12:30-31)
• The value of ‘love’ also encompasses so many other distinctly Christian values and indeed, many of our school’s core values. We see this in the extract "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart." Colossians 3:23

Our Christian School Values:

• Love - We love God and one another as Jesus taught us.
• Respect - We appreciate the importance of respecting everyone and everything.
• Friendship - We understand that a good friend can be trusted and is loyal.
• Perseverance - We are happy to learn from our mistakes and never give up.
• Truthfulness - We always tell the truth and earn the trust of one another.
• Courage - We recognise that we need courage to try our best, meet our goals and live by our values.

Learning

We understand that the school is a place of learning. We are committed to ensuring high standards of achievement for pupils whilst equipping them with the skills to become independent life-long learners. This is supported and reinforced by our commitment to children’s spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical, social and moral development.

Reflecting our Distinctive Christian Character

Tibberton CE First School is an inclusive school founded by the church. Strong links with the church has been a feature of our school for around 150 years and forms a solid foundation for the teaching within it. We aim to deliver a high quality education to our pupils underpinned by the beliefs and practices of Christianity. Our school aims and vision reflects the Christian values that permeate and underpin all aspects of school life. These values impact directly on the way we care for the welfare of the children, parents and staff of the school communities. We endeavour to ensure that our whole school communities have the opportunity to achieve and grow in spiritual health, wealth and happiness.

More about our Values and how we share them...

We select one of our values each half term to look at in depth - finding out what they mean in our lives and in our relationships with each other. We explore the Christian roots of the value and how Jesus demonstrates the value in the Bible. The value will be part of our Collective Worship throughout the week and be reflected around the school and in the classrooms.

Each week at school, staff are on the lookout for children demonstrating our chosen value. The School Council decided that in our Celebration Assembly, these children are awarded a special certificate to recognise the part they have played in sharing our value. Their photos will also be put in our newsletter for everyone to see.

The following thoughts reflect how the values help us all in our daily lives at school:

LOVE

At Tibberton we want to show love and care for others and to be unselfish. In the Bible Jesus teaches us about love in the story of ‘The Good Samaritan.’ We are taught to “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31).  It is not just the love we feel for our friends and family but the Bible is asking us to put others first and show love even to people we might not like. This story helps us to understand this important message.

RESPECT

Jesus tells us to have respect for one another no matter who they are or where they are from, like in the Bible story ‘The Woman of Samaria’ (John 4 1-41). At Tibberton we want to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. We also know to have respect for our belongings, our environment and our own health and well-being.

FRIENDSHIP 

At Tibberton we learn to look after one another; to share; to include and to be accepting of others. In the story of Ruth and Naomi we learn that true friendship is self-giving. Ruth said “Where you go, I shall go.” (Ruth 1-16).

TRUTHFULNESS

We believe that being genuine and honest to ourselves and to other people is important. Telling lies or exaggerating can be hurtful and destructive. It is much better to tell the truth straight away. Jesus teaches about the importance of truthfulness in the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector. "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5-8).

COURAGE 

Courage is being able to stand up for what you believe in and do the right thing even when it’s hard. In the Bible story Daniel and the Lions (Daniel 6: 10-18) Daniel decided to follow God even though he knew he might be thrown into the pit of hungry lions! His courage teaches us that we need courage to make the right decisions and stand up for our beliefs and for others.

PERSEVERANCE

 

Christians believe that God guides us through life and is always there for us. We try to work hard and never give up even when things are hard. At Tibberton we want to keep going to be the very best we can be. The story of Noah provides us with an amazing example of this, as he persevered, nourished by his faith in God. “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” (Genesis 6-22). 

Vision into Values into Vision 

Our values help us to serve with Grace. In the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) we see the importance of God’s Grace, as regardless of the mistakes the son had made he was welcomed back by his father. Unconditional love, not based on merit or significance. Simply an offer of love and forgiveness.  In the Good Samaritan we are taught it is imperative to ‘Go and do likewise.’ (Luke 10:37).

 

 

 

 

Spirituality

At our Church School, supporting the spiritual development of our school community is integral to school life. As part of this important aspect of school life we have grown a shared definition of spirituality for our School Community: 

'Spirituality at school means feeling connected to something bigger than just ourselves. It's about being amazed by the world around us, asking lots of questions, and feeling inspired to help others and take care of our planet. It's like trying to be kind and helpful to others in a really special way, just as we try and serve with Grace.'

If we are serving our community with Grace to allow each individual to flourish, this is not simply about academic success. We need to ensure we nurture the mind, body and soul through social, emotional, moral, physical and spiritual development. Spirituality relates to questions about the meaning and purpose of life which affect everyone and it is not dependent upon religious belief. It can be a search for ways to answer questions about life and search for identity, including a path for individuals to develop their relationship with God and Jesus, if they chose to do so.

It is clear that spirituality can mean different things for each of us, depending on who we are, how we act and how we live our lives so we hope our definition is one you can apply to your family.