Headteacher

Our School Vision

A Family school at the heart of the community

Guided by the words of Jesus in John 10:10

‘I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness’

Our vision is guided by the words of Jesus in John 10:10. Jesus gave his disciples a vision of a life that is full of possibilities and dreams yet to be met.

At St Andrew’s Church School, we have that vision of life without limits for all our children. We see every experience, lesson and activity during the day enabling the children to experience fullness of life and to flourish as individuals. We are a family school which is physically at the centre of our local community. This enables us to build close links with the families and those in our local area. We often see generations of families attending our school and a strong sense of belonging is important to us.

We have a diverse community with some families having complex needs. Our strong distinctively Christian foundation fosters a caring and inclusive approach for families of all faiths and none, treating each child and their family with care, dignity and respect as individuals. Through this approach we want to see our community impacted by the values lived out by our children and staff. Bringing fullness of life and hope for the future.

Our School Values

St Andrew’s Church School is part of a wider family of schools in the Multi Academy Trust of Bath and Wells. We are proud of our Christian ethos and distinctiveness and believe that through living out our school values children will become respectful, caring and compassionate, bringing hope and life in all its fullness to others now and in the future.

We believe that each child is made in the image of God and welcome every child, regardless of history, socioeconomic background, special educational need, disability or ethnicity, to be a unique and important part of our school family. We are building a community that impacts the world around us with respect, kindness and making a difference encouraging each child to ‘Aim high ‘in all they do, bringing fullness of life to themselves and others around them.

With God’s help through his love we: Respect ourselves and each other, aim high in all we do and make a positive difference to the world around us.

Our values can be seen in the story of ‘The Good Samaritan’ (Luke 10:25-37)

Jesus told the story to demonstrate his love of the individual despite background and lifestyle. The Good Samaritan shows the stranger sacrificial love thinking not of himself but of another. He shows the values of respect bringing dignity and making a difference to the life of the individual. Jesus then in verse 37 sets a challenge

“You go then and do the same” thus instructing us to aim high and make a difference. In our daily lives this can be lived out through our attitude, behaviour and actions towards others. We model this as staff and in our behaviour policy of reflection time, working on rebuilding broken relationships and forgiveness with each day being a fresh start.

Respect

We believe that everyone is made in the image of God and God has a plan for each person to bring them into fullness of life.

In the parable of ‘The Good Samaritan’ Jesus was asked the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbour as yourself.”

In this way we are called to respect ourselves and others showing a deep admiration by our caring, kind and thoughtful attitude to those around us because of their importance to God. Our school prayer includes, ‘Teach us the love and care that you show.’

Make a difference

In the parable of ‘The Good Samaritan,’ Luke 10: 33-34 Jesus talks about the compassion shown to the man in need.

We believe that in this way we can all have a positive impact on others and the world around us. Jesus came to bring light to the world, to push back the darkness and lead people into fullness of life.

Jesus spoke to them saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

We teach children that however old they may be they can have a positive impact on those around them and the wider world. This can be seen in their enthusiasm to make a difference to our local community through donations to the food bank, making links and bringing renewed joy of life to the residents at Kilkenny house. Also in fund raising for different causes throughout the year. Children were keen to make links with our school in Malawi and make a difference to the children of Chimbya for them to receive an education.

Aim High

In the parable of ‘The Good Samaritan,’ Luke 10:36-37 Jesus tells us to go and have the same compassion as the Samaritan showed. This sets the challenge of aiming high in order to bring fullness of life to ourselves and others.

Colossians 3:23-24 says ‘Whatever you do, work heartily for the Lord and not for man, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord.’

St Andrew’s has a commitment to high standards, high expectations and excellence. We set the challenge of being the best that we can in all things knowing that this brings self-respect, self-belief, resilience and endurance and making the most of every opportunity that is presented bringing life in all its fullness.