When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
Acts 11:23.
At Sir Henry Fermor, we focus on Christ’s teachings; which shapes us and how we live as a Church of England School:
Our School Vision:
Sir Henry Fermor enables everyone to succeed; as Jesus teaches through the parable of The Lost Sheep: no one is left behind. Inspiring children and adults, believing in God at the heart of all we do, through Christ’s love and guidance; all in the Sir Henry Fermor family flourish, achieving fullness.
Our Vision Rationale:
Our chosen bible passage is one of the many stories Jesus told, to illustrate a point and guide us as to how we should live. At SHF we believe that the parable of the lost sheep envelops who we are, why we are here and therefore how we should live our lives. This parable helps us to expand our school motto: Inspire Believe, Achieve and gives purpose and meaning to all that we do.
Parable of The Lost Sheep (Luke 15: 1-7).
Inspire – The parable inspires us as a school to take risks, as the shepherd took a risk by leaving his 99 sheep to go out and find the 1 lost sheep - not knowing what he would face. Just as the shepherd looked after his sheep, we too are inspired to look out for, encourage and support each other. Jesus inspires us and gives us strength when we need it.
Believe – The Lost Sheep parallels with Christ’s mission to rescue the people of the world - the shepherd never doubted he would find his sheep, as our team never stop believing in your children. We inspire our school family to get closer to, and deepen their belief in God, through our curriculum, ethos and collective worships, by giving everyone the opportunity to get to know God.
Achieve – Children are able to challenge themselves; knowing that they are in a place where mistakes are not seen as failure, but rather as an opportunity to learn and develop a growth mind-set. The sheep pen represents a safe refuge, just as our school is a safe and secure environment for all. We know that if children are happy and feel safe they achieve the best they can.
Promoting British Values at Sir Henry Fermor Primary School
At Sir Henry Fermor School we aim for our children to become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and tolerance, regardless of background. We have a worship every Tuesday morning that uses the Picture News website and its resources to learn about current affairs (in our country and the world around us), and particularly focuses on British values. We promote the basic British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs in the following ways:
We have a School Council with members from Year One to Year Six. These children have election campaigns and are voted for by their classmates. The Council meets regularly and in the meetings the children’s views and ideas on a range of school issues are sought and they help make decisions. The council members feedback to their classes. They also collect class views which they bring to their meetings and are involved in fund raising for the school. We also have House Captains which, again, are voted for by the house members.
Children are taught from the beginning the ‘values’ of the school. Every class has its own value taken from the list of the fruits of the spirit in the book of Galations in the bible. Pupils are taught the importance of and reasons behind our school ‘values’, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when the ‘values’ are not kept. Each class agrees its own class rules at the beginning of the academic year. We have a variety of rewards when children keep the ‘values’ including Fermor merits, golden time, raffle tickets, the opportunity to be in The Gold Book, and a house points system. These show children our values are special and in keeping them they will be rewarded.
Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. Making choices is key part the way we want children to learn and of the school vision, which children learn about through assemblies and PHSE work. Through our work we discuss different choices that the children can make and encourage them to make the right choices. We look at Online safety as a key part of the Computing curriculum and the importance making safe choices when online.
Mutual respect is at the heart of our values. We are an inclusive school where everyone is valued and has a contribution to make to the school. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. The children and staff often work with the local Church which develops their respect for others in the wider community.
All different faiths and beliefs are explored and celebrated through assemblies, RE lessons and a variety of visitors into school. The children are taught that people have different faiths and beliefs and that these should be accepted. Children within our school with different faiths are encouraged to share their practices and special celebrations. Our school also has a link with All Saints Church who visit us every Monday during our worship slot.