Theological Rationale and Christian Distinctiveness

Our theological rationale:

• Our school vision is that All Are Welcome, All Are Accepted, All Are Achieve and All Are Loved.

• We believe that all children have their origin in the love of God and are all God’s children.

• We hold, therefore, that all children have value and worth. (Genesis 1:26-27 ‘All are made in the image of God.”)

• This leads us to celebrate the amazing diversity that is found within our school community, considering particularly protected characteristics and our vulnerable children.

• We celebrate diversity, having a particular concern that the excluded are included: all are welcome in our school. (Romans 15:7 “Therefore welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

• Inclusion isn’t always present in human relationships, and because of this, we strive for equality in our school, so all children in our school community feel that they are in a safe place to learn and grow. By the way we offer an inclusive education, we express the inclusive, everlasting love of God.  (Jeremiah 31:3 “I have love you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness.”)

• Arising from these strong beliefs, we have a particular concern that no child feels ‘on the edge’, ‘outside’ or ‘left behind’ in our school family. This is depicted in Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15: 3- 8) and the teaching of Jesus as the Good Shepherd (John 10.16). In our school, we actively seek those not included so that the excluded become included too. We always strive fervently to offer excellence in education to all, including our most vulnerable and educationally disadvantaged pupils (Pupil Premium, SEND, EAL and those known to social care), so that no one is left behind and quality education offers hope of fullness of life to all.

 

All Are Welcome

Our vision is that all feel welcomed both at our school and within our school community. This bible verse echoes our belief that we welcome all and treat each other as a family. New families feel welcomed and quickly become an integral part of the fabric of our school. Every new child receives a welcome meeting within their first couple of weeks to help them firmly feel welcomed into our school.

 

 

All Are Accepted

Our second vision is that all are accepted. We work closely with our wider school community to ensure that all feel accepted. Our curriculum provides texts and language to empower our staff, children and community to become equitable. All feel accepted and celebrated for their age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education and national origin.

 

 

All Achieve

All achieve at our school. We recognise that we are all made in God’s image and have gifts and passions given by the Holy Spirit. At  Rossington St Michael’s, we give children and staff experiences and opportunities to achieve. Our curriculum is ambitious and tailored to our community needs. We empower our children to have aspirations and to dream high.

 

 All Are Loved

Our fourth vision is that all are loved. This quote displays our vision that all children should feel everlasting love. Within the community we serve, this is ever more a focus as, for some, our school is their safe-haven and a only place of love. Our staff openly share to children that they are loved and cared for. This is a very special place to work and to be part of a family.

 

 

The Values we explore and strive to live by are:

• Ready

• Respectful

• Safe

We believe these values are empowering our pupils to develop their spirituality and guiding them in personal development as effective learners and good citizens.

 

Readiness in our school:  

Through prayer to prepare ourselves to love as God would love us to love.

When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. 

Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference.

Scripture tells us that we must always be ready to tell others the good news. We must be prepared as Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word. Be ready to do it whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Correct, confront, and encourage with patience and instruction”.

In our school, we place great importance on readiness to listen and to learn.

 

Respect in our school: 

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself:

Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Respect is our second core Christian value because we believe that people are made in the image of God, that everyone is special, everyone’s opinion matters, everyone’s contribution is important, everyone’s feelings should be considered, and everyone’s faith is sacred.

Within our school, we encourage all, ” to treat others as you would want them to treat you.” (Matthew 7:12) Respect can mean simply treating each other with politeness and courtesy and recognising that everyone’s contribution is important and that everyone’s feelings should be considered.  We regularly discuss how respecting someone does not mean that we always agree with the other person but that we are prepared to listen and share our views without rudeness or impatience.

 

Safety in our school:

Psalm 16:1 “Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge!”

The bible verse communicates that you can always trust in the Lord, no matter what. His love will keep you safe and protected in times of turmoil.

It is important that we all feel safe, and because of this we teach children about building trust. Everyone should feel safe to trust each other. We ensure that all feel safe, and that safeguarding is placed front and central in all areas of our school life and embedded within our policies. Our classrooms are safe places to learn.