Church and Community links
Together we flourish. Together, we make a difference.
The Distinctiveness of being a Church of England School
The purpose of a Church of England school is to provide children from the local area and beyond with a broad and balanced curriculum that offers a spiritual dimension to the lives of young people, within the traditions of the Church of England.
We aim to nurture a sense of belonging, connection, compassion, kindness, hope and aspiration within our learning community and embody this through our theological rooted Christian vision that acknowledges together we all flourish and together, we make a difference.This means all children regardless of their faith or background are welcome to join our school.
Open the Book
We have strong links with our local village church, St Andrew's, Marks Tey. Reverend Ian and the 'Open the Book' team come into school on a weekly basis to bring the Bible to life. This weekly Collective Worship session is always one which engages and excites the pupils and staff alike and involves particpation from different pupils each week.
Different approaches to Collective Worship help maintain a healthy and diverse approach which helps maintain high engagement and participation levels indicating that it is an enjoyable and thought provoking experience.
Community
We recognise the importance of engaging and interacting with people and organisations around us, not only because it has positive spin offs for the education of our children and the reputation of the school, it also helps us to operate and function more effectively. It is important that our children also recognise this too not only on a local scale but a global scale. This involves being courageous advocates and ambassadors for the school. Throughout the year we have visitors from the emergency services, foodbank, NSPCC and other's to support our children with this.
We regularly open our doors to parents/carers inviting them to join us for Harvest, Easter and other Collective Worships throughout the year. The KS1 Nativity and KS2 Carol Concert are both popular and well attended events as well.
We also run a 'Community Book Swap' and Macmillan coffee morning offer chances for the local community to get involved with the school, but our Christmas and Summer Fairs are often well attended by all members of our local community as well.