Appreciation
Our value in the first half of autumn term
Our Vision Statement
We are inspired to be a vibrant, joyful community in which we know and love one another, leading together and growing together by:
- Appreciating everyone and everything around us
- Making one another feel safe
- Sharing, so no one feels left out
- Living well together in love
- Moving forward together in hope
Our school motto
Our new school motto is:
Together we love, Together we know,
Together we lead, Together we grow
The motto is a neat and memorable way of summing up the life our vision leads us to live together in school.
Bayford Primary School and Nursery is a community and we work hard to make it a positive and inclusive community. We want to be the sort of community in which everyone feels a sense of belonging and commitment. Learning, leadership, and personal growth are all shared experiences. The adults in our community are learning alongside the children; the children learn to share responsibility and leadership.
It’s why we put such emphasis on learning outside the classroom: we believe it’s the best way for our whole community to learn together and grow, a stimulating and enriching way for us all to enjoy our time together. We’re delighted that our commitment has led to national recognition from the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.
Our inspiration
Our inspiration is taken directly from the Bible. In fact from a single sentence from the Bible which we chose to represent the vision which is at the heart of our community.
We know that within our community some of us will share the Christian faith, others may not be sure, and some may firmly reject it; but we hope that everyone can take inspiration from a model of human community which flows from this faith and so share our vision for our school.
The single sentence is this: Jesus said, ‘I am the Good Shepherd… I know my sheep and my sheep know me.’
As a village school, we all recognise that one of our strengths is the intimacy which comes from being small in number. Young children are not overwhelmed by the crowd. We can all know everyone in our community by name. We can all feel we belong, that we’re heard and valued as individuals.
As a Christian school we try to model in our daily life the kind of loving relationship which God has with us. Jesus put that into words in terms people of his day would understand: it’s like the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. Sheep are still kept in and around Bayford, but not many of us now really understand the model Jesus presented. In fact sheep have become very misunderstood! People think of sheep as timid and stupid, but that’s far from the truth of the sheep Jesus knew! Shepherding is misunderstood too: it’s about knowing and being known, self-sacrifice and compassion.
If you’d like to find out more about our vision and the inspiration behind it, you can download a brief explanation by clicking on this button.
Shared values
Building on that overall vision for our school community, we’ve picked six key values to guide us. The values of courage, appreciation, respect, peace, responsibility, and love help us to learn together to lead and grow. Each half term we reflect on what one of our core values means. You can see what this half term’s value is at the top of the page.
Courage to face situations that might be difficult
Appreciation of everyone and everything around us
Respect towards others and the environment
Peace through inward and outward reflection
Responsibility for ourselves and others in need
Love of all that God has created and expressed through his son Jesus
Shared aims
To make our vision a reality we aim to:
- Help our children develop lively, imaginative and enquiring minds and to nurture a love of learning
- Provide a challenging, supportive and enthusiastic learning environment
- Promote self-respect and confidence so that our children take pride in their own learning and the achievements of others
- Have high expectations and an appreciation of a child’s individuality so that, as a child of God, they can achieve their full potential
- Encourage children to take pride in their behaviour, developing an understanding and respect for religious and cultural diversity, in order to become responsible members of society
- Foster close relationships between the school, home, church, and the local community
Our vision, values and aims form the basis for all our policies, like our Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development Policy. You can find copies of all our published policies by clicking on the first button below, or you can click on the second button to find out more about how we try to live and learn together at Bayford.
This page was last updated on 9th October 2024