Our Christian vision sits at the ‘heart’ of all we do at St. Anne’s. It is the foundation upon which everything else is built. From this vision we have chosen ten core Christian values- courage, endurance, forgiveness, friendship, justice, peace, service, thankfulness, trust, wisdom- which our community lives by both inside and outside the school. These values hold high importance and permeate all aspects of school life, driving and underpinning its work.
They are depicted as bricks each supported by a biblical reference, which build upon the vision, helping the children to develop strong foundations for lifelong learning and lifelong faith. Christian ethos is depicted as the DNA which threads through the vision, aiming to create an inclusive, caring and sharing environment, where everyone grows, both academically and personally, The School Vision has been in place for four years, giving depth and longevity to the impact it has created. It was chosen with clear theological focus rooted in the biblical text of the commandment Jesus taught to love God and love one another. We believe that through having ‘Minds to Learn and Hearts to Care’ (depicted by the symbol designed by the Junior Management Team), children will achieve their full potential, living life to its fullest and ensuring all choices are open to them to enable exceptional flourishing.
We believe in the balance between the two and that they are inextricably linked; as you enter our school community, you will experience both learning minds and caring hearts.
Vision and Values
Our School Values
Our School Values (download)
What the Children Say About Our Values
The Vision of the School
The Vision of the School ‘Minds to Learn, Hearts to Care’
Our school vision is to be the best version of ourselves that God created us to be, with ‘Minds to Learn and Hearts to Care. At St. Anne’s our vision is for everyone who is part of our school community to live life to the full and treat everyone with compassion and respect. This vision shapes all we do and helps us understand who we are as a school, why we are here, and then how we live. Our values are the building blocks for strong foundations for lifelong learning and lifelong faith. Jesus summed up his most important teaching by quoting the greatest commandment ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. And love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22v37-39)
Our school vision is to be the best version of ourselves that God created us to be – with minds to learn and hearts to care.
Who are we as a school? Our deeply Christian vision is firmly rooted in the Bible.
Jesus summed up his most important teaching by quoting the greatest commandment – love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul with all your mind. And love your neighbour as yourself. (Matthew 22v37-39) At St Anne’s our vision is for everyone who is part of our school community to live life to the full and to treat everyone with compassion and respect. This vision shapes all we do and helps us understand who we are as a school, why we are here, and then how we live. Our values are the building blocks for strong foundations for lifelong learning and lifelong faith.
Why are we here? These are our values:
Loving God with all of our heart
We want everyone at St Anne’s to be the best version of themselves. We believe this is about everyone being authentic, open and honest. We are dedicated to continuous improvement, challenging ourselves, celebrating our successes and always aspiring to be ‘the best we can be’ to enable each child and adult to flourish and achieve.
Loving God with all our soul
We want to nurture the spiritual life of everyone in our school family recognising that ‘spirituality is like a bird; if you hold it too tightly, it chokes; if you hold it too loosely, it flies away. Fundamental to spirituality is the absence of force. Rabbi Hugo Gryn
To promote our Christian ethos and values through lively, intelligent and creative participation
To provide an inviting, inclusive school environment where all members of the school community, of all faiths or none, are valued, respected and care for one another.
To encourage and develop links between the school, home, our parishes and the local, national and global community.
Loving God with all our mind
To provide a high quality and nurturing learning environment.
To be dedicated to continuous improvement, challenging ourselves, celebrating our successes and always aspiring to be ‘the best we can be’.
To enable each child and adult to flourish and achieve.
How then do we live? This shapes our school life.
Daily collective worship is at the centre of school life and enables children to experience the diversity of Christian practice and tradition.
High quality, effective, academic religious education allows pupils and adults alike to flourish.
Throughout all our school life our Christian vision and values promote social and cultural development through the practice of forgiveness and reconciliation. They encourage good mental health and enable children and adults, whatever their background or ability, to flourish and live well together.
The vision is used to ensure our policies, curriculum and extracurricular opportunities meet the academic and spiritual needs of all learners.
We describe all our activities in terms of how the vision and values inspire our whole school community, children and adults, to engage in social action and to be courageous advocates for change in their local, national and global communities
Our Christian vision supports the character and moral development of all pupils and adults, giving them aspiration for themselves and hope for the communities of which they are a part. It fosters dignity and respect, enabling everyone to be the person God created them to be, to achieve the most they can, and to inspire hope for others in the local community and beyond. Learning is at the heart of what we do here; we offer a rich, stimulating environment to develop the whole child, fulfilling academic potential whilst building moral character. We encourage unique, creative, open-minded, independent individuals, respectful of themselves and others. Inspired by Christian faith and practice, our school provides a caring, pastoral base in which each child feels loved, valued and accepted. Through nurturing them in their educational journey, our pupils will be confident in their ability to meet the opportunities and challenges of a changing world, taking happy memories of St. Anne’s with them into their future life.
Our Vision and Values are hidden in our School Prayer’
School Prayer Vision and Values (download)
Governance
The Governing Board has a strong set of members with varied expertise, which we draw upon to setting the direction to our forward- thinking school. St. Anne’s Governors are active in and around school in various capacities.
To assist them in their monitoring role, the Chaplain presents at each termly Curriculum Committee Meeting, for which each governor is a member and submits a separate written report on Christian Ethos and Pupil Voice for the full Governing Board. The RE Lead’s presentation is also a standing item at the Curriculum Committee meeting, accompanied by a sample of RE books across school to set context.
Foundation Governors form an additional Distinctiveness Committee, whose half -termly meetings currently focus on the planning, monitoring and evaluation of worship. Since the start of the autumn term 2021, Reverend Keddilty has led two worships and the ‘Thankfulness’ Prayer Space event. A second foundation governor, has monitored the first pupil-led worship of the current year led by the Chaplaincy Team on the theme of Values, to relaunch the latest edition of the School Prayer Book, for which she has written the foreword. Her second monitoring visit has focused on the initial impact of the Community Coordinator role.