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Our School Vision, Ethos and Values
Christian values, high expectations, treasuring uniqueness - sitting at the heart of the community.
“...I have come in order that you might have life — life in all its fullness.”
John 10:10
As a Church of England school, we are proud of our Christian distinctiveness. Our Christian values and ethos underpin everything we do at St Andrew’s, Chardstock. We are a fully inclusive school and we welcome children from all faiths and backgrounds. We encourage every child to develop as a responsible citizen and show respect for others and the environment.
Our strong foundation allows our pupils the creativity and freedom to have high aspirations for their lives and to 'dream big'. We believe that pupils are entitled to a rich and challenging curriculum. Through our carefully planned curriculum and extra-curricular activities we give our pupils the confidence and resilience to believe that anything is possible. The wisdom, knowledge and skills they develop will ensure that they achieve the best possible outcomes for themselves, their communities and the wider world.
In our school there is a sense of community and, although a small village school, we acknowledge our responsibility in opening the eyes of our pupils to the wider world as well as embracing and valuing the community in which we live. We believe in encouraging our pupils to take part in local events to demonstrate our core values in relation to the local community and as global citizens.
Such learning, and all of the other extra-curricular experiences, will allow all students to broaden their horizons and embrace the different attitudes and opinions they will encounter.
Our school is a Church of England School in the Diocese of Exeter. We are wholly committed to the education and welfare of the children in our care. Our church school’s success is based on strong and welcoming links between school, home, church and community. We believe that ‘a full life’ is one where each individual strives to do the best for themselves and others. Our view is that everyone has the potential to succeed and flourish academically, socially, spiritually, culturally and morally. When Jesus spoke of living life to the full, he spoke of experiencing the fullness of God’s grace and love. It is a message that we deliver throughout our curriculum.
Core Values
At St. Andrew’s, we have six core values that permeate all that we do. Our core values guide us all and help us to reflect upon how we can be compassionate, respectful, aspirational individuals with the resilience to cope with the challenges of life.
Our Christian values are:
Autumn 1 - Friendship
Autumn 2 - Making good choices
Spring 1 - Perseverance
Spring 2 - Peace
Summer 1 - Love
Summer 2 - Respect
We have an over-arching core value of Celebrating Life. Our acts of daily worship teach and share these core values with the children to ensure that everyone in our school community demonstrates them and are a 'blessing to others'. Each half -term we award the Core Value Trophy to a pupil who has demonstrated their commitment to our core values through their words and actions.
Vision Groups
We have two vision groups within our school. One (the ethos committee) consists of child representatives from each class, the Christian Distinctiveness Co-ordinator who is also the Head of School. The other is made up of committed adults from across the trust who join together to share best practice. They meet once a term to continually support and progress the Ethos of each school by combining a variety of expertise and sharing strengths from other schools. They ensure RE, Ethos and SMSC is delivered to a high standard in every school.
The Children’s Ethos Committee gives the children a voice about our Ethos. They also take responsibility of maintaining and growing our Ethos throughout the school and enabling more spiritual opportunities for each and every child. They lead a variety of fundraising events to support local causes and charities, for example Cancer Research and The Samaritan's Purse, Shoe Box Appeal.