Our Christian Vision and Values

Biblical Foundation

‘Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path’  Psalm 119. 105

Vision Statement

Taking God’s word as our compass, we hope children develop ethics of excellence, becoming the best they can be while embracing new opportunities.

Our school is a learning community welcoming and celebrating diversity and personality.  We create a curriculum which enables children to flourish holistically.  Our days are designed to be tapestries of stillness, energy, ambition, challenge, reflection and fun!

Maximising our glorious surroundings, we seek to find learning indoors and outdoors revelling in the world God provided.  Young leaders are nurtured, becoming the change they hope to see, using their voice, energies, gifts and talents to be a positive difference.

Foundations in the Scriptures

'Rooted in Faith' opens our school Mission Statement which represents our clear, distinctive Christian foundations therefore our school Bible Verse captures this. We have chosen Psalm 119 105 as it illustrates that we use the Bible as guidance, as teaching and as our compass.  We often make reference to the scriptures, Biblical stories and Christian values when reviewing choices; offering advice and thinking about our next steps.

The psalm can be spotted around the school so it is a familiar point of reference which can be used by children and adults alike.

We do because Jesus did.

Where our Mission Statement came from

We  reviewed our Mission Statement and spent over a year discussing this with all our stakeholders.  We invited Liz Agbettoh from Blackburn Diocese to facilitate discussion with teachers, support staff and governors.  This resulted in a plethora of key ideas.

The headteacher and assistant headteacher then led a pupil focused session - we had all year 2, all year 6 and all members of each school council.  The children had strong ideas but luckily there were many common elements that were also shared at the staff and governor session.

We then sent out a parent survey and received 186 returns which guided our pathway. 

After much thinking aloud, shuffling huge sheets of paper, grouping and sorting,  our main ideas were becoming clear.

We wanted something we could all remember, which we could all own and find ways of keeping it alive in our school.

A rhyming Mission Statement with actions was created.

All our children, all ages, all abilities, all cultures know this inside out and we re-enact it together every single school day.

Rooted In Faith ~ Aim High ~ Seek Within ~ Wonder Why ~ Salesbury School ~ Serving Others

Children spotted living out our Mission Statement may be chosen to add their names to each class's Mission in Action box.  During Celebration Worship we draw out one from each class to receive our Mission Wrist Band and to join the headteacher for hot chocolate (including whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate fingers, of course!), we chat, talk about the week we have had, the weekend to come and celebrate being spotted going 'above and beyond.'   A favourite time of the week!

Our Christian Values - we explore the following values over a 3 year cycle providing time for children to deepen their understanding and integrate the Church's Year.  The values are explored through story, Bible teaching, art, media, prayer, poetry, stillness, interaction, song, music and reflection. Children are encouraged to take something from our Collective Worship and apply it to their daily lives e.g. When exploring the value of friendship, children were encouraged to seek out anyone who may need a friend or a smile and include them; when exploring the value of courage, children were asked to stand up to anything they could see that was unkind; when exploring the value of creativity, children were asked to think about what they were good at and share their gifts and talents with others.

For each value, we invite parents to support this teaching at home through discussion and activity, even participating in our Home Value Challenge. 

Our Lighthouse Group bring together our Collective Worship experiences and support our children's understanding.