‘Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation of your life’
At West Tytherley, our vision is to be an inclusive school at the heart of our community, where all children believe in themselves, enjoy learning, grow personally and academically and to have skills to succeed in life. As a Church of England school, our education is rooted in the ethos and values of the Christian faith, supporting the development of the whole child and equipping them for life in today’s world.
We aim to enable pupils to:
At West Tytherley, our values derive from our Vision — to be an inclusive school situated in the heart of its community. Our symbol of a tree supports the words that are taken from Colossians Chapter 2 verse 7: “Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation of your life.” Our school values form the root system that sustains the tree and they form an intrinsic part of the school’s Christian vision.
With the support of the Diocese, we recently re-developed our Christian values to reflect the school as it is at the moment. They were chosen by all stakeholders and followed a detailed exploration of what each word meant in its Christian context. They are:
Making use of our gifts to care for the world and create beauty within it.
“For we are God’s handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10).
Enduring in our commitment to what is right and true - not giving in to discouragement.
“Fear not, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10).
Showing empathy for the struggles of others and enabling them to make a new start.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32).
The values are displayed in each class and are part of our positive reward system. They form part of each act of worship. They are discussed in class and are reflected in the language we use towards each other in day-to-day school life. The value of compassion is linked to our school expression of ‘spreading sunshine’, which encourages the children to show care and kindness to one another. We celebrate courage through our ‘Have a Go hero ‘ and ‘In the Driving Seat’, Creativity with ‘Thinking outside the Box’.
We use these values to recognise achievements from each class in our weekly celebration. The children may be recognised for showing compassion and the details are given, and the impact discussed. This is celebrated widely in our regular school newsletter, distributed to parents.
The values also drive much of the outreach work we do: this has included poetry post, our participation in community events, and our charity work (which has been organised by the children themselves, with links to the values), and planned tea and bingo with the older members of the community.