Together, Let us Love, Encourage, Achieve and Flourish

(Hebrews 10:24-25)

Our Collective Worship Ambassadors

Our collective worship ambassadors are a group of children who help plan and lead collective worship across the schools. This year our collective worship ambassadors are:

Our Core Christian Values

To bring our school vision to life, we have discerned five christian values which will guide the way that we do things in our two schools. A Value is a principle that guides our thinking and our behaviour. At Crowcombe and Stogumber, every individual is valued for who they are and what they contribute to the school. Values are intended to support the personal, social and spiritual development of every pupil throughout the school.

Our 5 core values are:

Generosity      Optimism        Determination           Courage          Curiosity

Generosity:

When we think about generosity we usually think about being generous with money or possessions. However, at Crowcombe and Stogumber we can also be generous with our time, our gifts and our abilities. Generous people often say that they receive much more than they give. Perhaps this is because when someone is generous to us, it makes us want to be generous in return.
 

God’s generosity is best described as ‘grace’, love given freely without limit or conditions.  This generosity, once experienced and acknowledged by an individual, can in turn release a generous spirit towards others.
 

Optimism:

At Crowcombe and Stogumber we believe that optimism doesn't mean pretending life is always wonderful. Optimism means embracing reality. Through maintaining a positive outlook we accept that there will be bad days, but also many good days. When we are grounded in reality, we know where we are and how far we need to go. Once we know how far our goal may be from where we are, optimism can give us the motivation to make plans to get to where we want to go.

In the Bible another suitable term for optimism is hope. Optimism leads to resilience and God suggests “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4). Here we see that perseverance and resilience leads to hope (optimism).

Determination:

At Crowcombe and Stogumber we believe that Determination means not giving up when things get difficult. Determination is being able to do or achieve something. It is about making your mind up about something and driving on to achieve a goal. When we talk about teaching children hard work and determination, we’re talking about building their self-confidence and self-image to pursue their dreams, achieve the goals they set out to achieve, and to have the chance to “stay on track” even when something is difficult. In our schools teaching  determination means offering children the chance to try new things, encouraging them to not be afraid to make mistakes, helping them problem solve when they hit a difficulty, and offering specific and effort-oriented praise.

In the Bible it states “Let us run with determination the race that lies before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Jesus frequently encouraged his disciples to ‘endure patiently’ the difficulties and obstacles they encountered and to persevere in the face of adversity. He himself trusted in God even when his enemies tried to stop his work and plotted his death.

Courage:

At our schools courage is more than being brave – it is demonstrating an inner confidence about ones self and what is important. It is having the confidence to do something challenging be it facing a fear or phobia or choosing to stand up for others, even if it makes you unpopular. At Crowcombe and Stogumber we try to encourage the children to stand firm by their own faith, beliefs or courage of conviction. Being able to make up your own mind and not be swayed by pressure from others is an important life skill that will stand our children in good stead as they move on from us at the end of Year 6.

Courage is a core value for our church school because God asks us to be brave in the face of hardship. In the book of Joshua, God tells his people to ‘Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened, for the Lord God is with you wherever you go.’ This reminds us to stand against injustice and to be the best we can be when things are difficult. 

Curiosity:

At Crowcombe and Stogumber we kindle the spark of curiosity in our pupils by teaching a creative and broad curriculum which inspires, engages and motivates learners. Our children experience extraordinary learning opportunities through a range of visitors, workshops, trips and lessons to inspire intellectual curiosity. Our teachers are passionate about learning and foster inquisitiveness and empower our pupils with the skills to explore the world around them.

As a Church school, curiosity opens our heart and mind to the Spirit. As the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The curious mind creates deep thinkers and confident communicators; we encourage questioning, reasoning, debate and justification.

Our school values are at the core of everything we do. They underpin our teaching and learning, and provide an environment which prepares our pupils as confident, happy citizens.

As a Church of England School, our Christian Values underpin all that we do.  Every week we focus on a specific value in order to gain a better understanding of how these values impact the way that we live.  The values are displayed around our school and in all of our classrooms and are regularly referred to in order to help the children fully understand what they mean and how they link to their own lives. Our Collective Worships link closely to the weekly value and provides further opportunity for learning, reflection and application.  

Our values are the foundations of our behaviour policy, and we use them to talk to the children about their actions, to help them understand consequences. This then helps them to make changes and choices to ensure they are following our values within school and in their own lives at home.