Our Vision
At Rattlesden Church of England Primary Academy, we aim to educate and nurture each child to their full potential within a loving and caring Christian environment.
Our focus in all areas is to be the best we can be. Rooted firmly in, and drawing strength from the Christian faith, we strive to include all who choose to be part of our school family, recognising that success depends on working together and supporting each other.
Our school family endeavour to be their BEST: Believe, Embrace & Shine Together!
Our focus in all areas is to be the best we can be. Rooted firmly in, and drawing strength from the Christian faith, we strive to include all who choose to be part of our school family, recognising that success depends on working together and supporting each other.
Our school family endeavour to be their BEST: Believe, Embrace & Shine Together!
At our Church of England school, our vision is that our pupils will leave Rattlesden as confident, resilient and reflective individuals who live their lives through a foundation of strong Christian Values and develop a lifelong love of learning along with a curiosity and respect for the world and people around them.
At Rattlesden we try to develop spirituality by being creative and engaging, by engaging with nature and the world around us, by enabling our pupils to connect with stories and experiences, by empowering our children to ask and respond to questions, by promoting play and creativity and by developing relationships, by providing a sense of belonging and by the use of prayer and symbols.
Spirituality is felt within ourselves by individuals and hence cannot be taught or measured - instead being something that needs to be nurtured and given the right conditions and space to grow. Therefore we acknowledge that spirituality is deeply personal and so we afford every individual with the space and opportunity to develop along their own spiritual journey.
Throughout their time at our school we aim for the children:
At Rattlesden we try to develop spirituality by being creative and engaging, by engaging with nature and the world around us, by enabling our pupils to connect with stories and experiences, by empowering our children to ask and respond to questions, by promoting play and creativity and by developing relationships, by providing a sense of belonging and by the use of prayer and symbols.
Spirituality is felt within ourselves by individuals and hence cannot be taught or measured - instead being something that needs to be nurtured and given the right conditions and space to grow. Therefore we acknowledge that spirituality is deeply personal and so we afford every individual with the space and opportunity to develop along their own spiritual journey.
Throughout their time at our school we aim for the children:
- To have empathy with others – showing kindness and humility
- Understand, appreciate and care for the world around them
- Develop and demonstrate curiosity
- Increase in resilience and courage
- Respect and love themselves and others
- Be reflective and mindful
Our School Values
Believe Embrace Shine Together
‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Philippians 4:13
‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Philippians 4:13
Collective Worship
Collective Worship in our Church school enables every child and adult to flourish and to experience awe, wonder, joy, and celebration. It will help educate for wisdom, knowledge and skills, hope and aspiration, dignity and respect, and developing community and understanding of living well together.
Our school acts of collective worship aim:
Our school acts of collective worship aim:
- To give an opportunity, for those who wish, to worship God
- To help children develop a sense of awe and wonder around them
- To provide regular time and opportunity for reflection and to enable children to move from what is of immediate but passing concern to the broader and more lasting concerns of life
- To provide time and opportunity for thanksgiving and to enjoy the unity from sharing friendship, acceptance, joys, hopes and fears
- To develop an awareness of and concern for the needs of others as well as personal needs
- To provide time to share with others the things we have been doing, our thought and ideas
- To help children develop shared values
- To give children experience of being active members of a caring community
- To respond in a compassionate way to experiences of injustice, cruelty, exploitation and greed
At our school Collective Worship takes place in a number of ways. We meet together as a whole school, in Key Stages and as individual classes.
Throughout the year, each class in the school also takes responsibility for leading whole school collective worship based on our 'value'.
This half term Oak lead Collective Worship on the theme of compassion. The explored the bible story told in Luke 10:29–37 of the Good Samaritan.
Throughout the year, each class in the school also takes responsibility for leading whole school collective worship based on our 'value'.
This half term Oak lead Collective Worship on the theme of compassion. The explored the bible story told in Luke 10:29–37 of the Good Samaritan.
The acts of collective worship in the school are planned so as to give the children a variety of experiences, and enable them to come to the threshold of worship. These experiences may include: The telling of appropriate stories, drama, dance, poetry, music and visiting speakers.
The children will be given an opportunity to respond to those experiences through silent reflection, spoken prayer or the singing of songs.
The children will be given an opportunity to respond to those experiences through silent reflection, spoken prayer or the singing of songs.
Links with our local church
We have strong links with St Nicholas Church in the village. Our school collective worship often takes place in the church and the wider community joins us for our Harvest, Christmas and Easter services too. Reverend Sharon leads Collective Worship in school regularly.
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Values for Life
In our school we have a different 'value' that we focus on each half term on a two year cycle.
Our Values in year A are:
Courage
Peace
Trust and truthfulness
Forgiveness
Justice
Thankfulness and generosity
And in year B:
Compassion
Hope
Respect and Reverence
Perseverance
Responsibility
Service
Our Values in year A are:
Courage
Peace
Trust and truthfulness
Forgiveness
Justice
Thankfulness and generosity
And in year B:
Compassion
Hope
Respect and Reverence
Perseverance
Responsibility
Service
Reflection areas
Each class has a 'reflection' area. We also have a whole school reflection and plenty of lovely outdoor quiet spaces where the children may choose to spend some time.
British Values
Opportunities for our children's Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development are interwoven throughout the curriculum. We take seriously our responsibility to ensure that our children see themselves as young citizens who live by the British Values of:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty
- Mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and for those without
At Rattlesden Primary Academy we take our responsibility to prepare children for life in modern Britain very seriously. We value the backgrounds of all pupils and families and undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate and explore these alongside other cultures in our country.
We ensure that the fundamental British values are introduced, discussed and lived out through the ethos and work of the school. Our curriculum provides excellent opportunities to deepen and strengthen understanding developing the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of our children.
All children are involved in developing their own class rules and expectations of being good learners, based on the school’s aims and values. Whole school assemblies introduce themes to focus all children on understanding and embracing our values and aims. This developing values-based understanding from the minute they start school, provides children with the platform for embracing difference and striving for their own goals.
At Rattlesden, we value the voice of the child and promote democratic processes such as our School Council, whose members are elected by their peers. Ideas and events are planned and discussed with a chance for debate and putting forward points of view.
Children are given responsibility to run House meetings, Collective worship and lead other children in celebrating achievements or running activities so that they are fully involved in all aspects of school life. Some of our older children are Playground leaders: helping to promote our core values and high expectations of behaviour.
Our duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism through adherence to 'The Prevent Strategy' ensures that any dissent or opposition to these fundamental British Values is not tolerated at Rattlesden school.
We ensure that the fundamental British values are introduced, discussed and lived out through the ethos and work of the school. Our curriculum provides excellent opportunities to deepen and strengthen understanding developing the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of our children.
All children are involved in developing their own class rules and expectations of being good learners, based on the school’s aims and values. Whole school assemblies introduce themes to focus all children on understanding and embracing our values and aims. This developing values-based understanding from the minute they start school, provides children with the platform for embracing difference and striving for their own goals.
At Rattlesden, we value the voice of the child and promote democratic processes such as our School Council, whose members are elected by their peers. Ideas and events are planned and discussed with a chance for debate and putting forward points of view.
Children are given responsibility to run House meetings, Collective worship and lead other children in celebrating achievements or running activities so that they are fully involved in all aspects of school life. Some of our older children are Playground leaders: helping to promote our core values and high expectations of behaviour.
Our duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism through adherence to 'The Prevent Strategy' ensures that any dissent or opposition to these fundamental British Values is not tolerated at Rattlesden school.
SIAMS
In our Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) inspection in October 2019, we were graded a strong 'good' in all areas.
The final report notes:
Click here to read our full SIAMS report.
The final report notes:
- Pupils embody the Christian values. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is excellent. The school's Christian vision and associated values underpin the commitment of leaders for every pupil to flourish.
- Highly effective leadership and consistent high quality teaching have resulted in significant improvements in pupils outcomes. Pupils including the most vulnerable, make at least good, and often accelerated progress. This leads to attainment that is well above national averages in all measures.
- In order to equip pupils to flourish academically there is a rich and broad curriculum. This is complimented by a varied range of extra-curricular activities.
- The mutual and substantial partnership between school and church is valued by everyone, whether or not they belong to the local Christian community.
Click here to read our full SIAMS report.
