This is all about challenging ourselves to try new things or work towards goals and targets. These can be a range of different challenges, from times tables to ‘keepy ups’ on the playground! Through this we learn about resilience and the Christian value of endurance.
Our School Vision
We believe in Courage to Shine:
Courage to…
- Face new challenges.
- Be the best version of ourselves.
- Have an inquisitive mind.
Courage is what we intrinsically promote through our curriculum at Brompton-on-Swale CE Primary School. There are many opportunities for children to engage in through our wider curriculum e.g. performing on stage, representing a team, leading a collective worship, etc. Through taking part in these, we teach children to be brave, try new things and learn from their mistakes to help them move forward.
Face new challenges
Be the best version of ourselves
Through the teaching of Christian Values we aim to be the best version of ourselves. These are at the heart of our curriculum and taught explicitly through collective worship. Links are also made within PSHE and, where appropriate, across the wider curriculum. Children are able to reflect on these at the end of their time at Brompton and assess how they have developed their Christian Values.
Have an inquisitive mind
Our school curriculum has placed great emphasis on children asking good questions and exploring their learning further. How we teach has been adapted to help develop children’s independence and their ability to research for themselves in order to find out facts and information. Teachers and staff help facilitate this learning pathway but a pupil led approach is encouraged. Through the Christian Value of wisdom, we help prepare children for an ever-changing world where information is regularly available and so we must be able to assess this to know which is of value.
To help ensure our school vision has strong biblical roots we have focused on particular characters from the Bible that help the children to understand this message. For that reason we have introduced the children to the story of David (David and Goliath) and Ruth. Both of these people help the children to understand the 3 main strands of Having the Courage to Shine in different ways.
Character |
Face new challenges |
Be the best version of ourselves |
Have an inquisitive mind |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David |
David was always courageous, from his bravery as a young shepherd, protecting his flock from wild beasts, to his courage to take on Goliath when everyone else was scared and his confidence as a leader when battling against the odds. 1 Samuel 17 4-50 – David and Goliath Endurance |
David tried to do the right thing in his life. He refused to kill Saul, the king, (who was trying to kill him) when he had the chance, even though it would have made his life easier, and he knew that God has chosen him to be the next king. 1 Samuel 17 2-22 Compassion Later, as king, when he did mess up very badly he eventually publicly admitted his error (which kings in those days rarely did), repented and tried to be a better person. 2 Samuel 11 & 12 Forgiveness |
David was a deep thinker. The psalms are full of the wonderful songs he wrote, capturing his deep thinking about the world, life’s experiences and God. For example Psalm 23 Endurance Compassion Trust |
|
|
Ruth A children’s retelling of the Book of Ruth (it is quite short) will give you all these details. |
Ruth married an Israelite man whose family had moved to her country. Unfortunately, tragedy struck and her husband and father-in-law died. Her mother-in-law Naomi chose to go back to her homeland and Ruth chose to go with her to support her. This showed courage. She didn’t know how she would be received or how they would be able to fend for themselves. Endurance |
It would have been easier for Ruth to have gone back to her own family and abandoned Naomi. In fact, that is what Naomi encouraged her to do because the outlook seemed bleak. But Ruth did the right thing, despite the cost to herself, and as a result became a role model for faithfulness and love. Compassion |
Ruth was willing to learn a new way of living, in a new land with new people and new customs. She left behind all that she knew to do so. But she wasn’t afraid to learn new things. She even learnt about the God Naomi followed, and began to follow the same God herself. Trust |
|
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
Our Church School Highlights
Open the Book!
The school has a strong relationship with the local Church community. Children enjoy weekly acts of worship with members of the parish community that lead ‘Open the Book’ and also involve the children in taking part. This is linked to the liturgical calendar. A sequence of themes are planned for each term, exploring the value in more detail. We work hard together to ensure that worship is accessible to all pupils, inspires everyone involved to think and reflect and that it is meaningful to those of different faiths and of none.
Collective Worship Engage Page!
Each week we reflect on what we have learned in Collective Worship through a ‘Follow up’ session with Mr Firmin. A big question will be posted on our Engage Page and children and staff will be asked to reflect on this and post comments. Mr Firmin then reviews our responses with us the following week. These questions allow us to reflect on stories we have heard and how they might relate to our own lives in school and at home.
Supporting our local community
As part of ‘Being the Best Version of Ourselves’ we try to support and help our local community as best we can. Recently we have worked hard to promote and support the Open Pantry- a food bank organised by the church. The School Council helped raise awareness of this and the school is now a drop-off point for people to leave donations. This has also been supported by local businesses. Through the positive work of the children, we have seen a notable increase in support for this community project.
Each year the school takes part in a Christmas Tree Festival and the choir will also sing and perform at the church.
Our children love to visit the local area. Each year some of our youngest children will walk into the village and sing carols. In addition to this some of our oldest children also post well being messages to our elderly residents and let them know that we are here and willing to support them.
These visits have been so successful that we have decided to run a coffee morning in school and invite some of our local/ elderly residents in to school to enjoy refreshments and to play board games with the children.
