St George's CE Primary School

  1. About Us
  2. A Church School

Our Vision

At St George’s Church of England Primary School, we believe that each child is uniquely created by God and should be supported to flourish in their potential as a child of God.

Every child is welcomed into our safe, loving and supportive Christian family.

Our vision is supported through our school motto Dream, Believe, Achieve’. 

Our strong foundation allows our children the creativity and freedom to have high aspirations for their lives and to dream big. Through our character education we give our pupils the confidence and resilience to believe that anything is possible and the wisdom, knowledge and skills they develop will ensure that they achieve the best possible outcomes for themselves, their communities and the wider world.

This is also reflected in our Trust’s Vision, which is to create ‘stand out’ schools at the heart of their communities.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart – Colossians 3:23

Our Mission Statement

At St George’s CE Primary School, children and their learning are central to everything we do. As a church school we serve our community by providing an education of the highest quality within a framework of Christian belief and values. We celebrate diversity by recognising and valuing the contribution made by all individuals. Children with different faiths and no faith are welcomed at our school. Through our motto ‘Dream, Believe, Achieve’ and motivated by our Christian faith, we develop skills which will nurture a love of learning which our children will take with them through the next stages of their lives, all the time enabling them to flourish on the journey towards reaching their full potential.

Dream – aspiration, curiosity, questioning, hope, ambition, potential, individuality, resilience, enjoyment

Believe – faith, self-worth, self-esteem, confidence, community, diversity, trust, equality

Achieve – potential, love of learning, engagement, growth, whole child, curriculum, goals, progress, attainment, perseverance

Our Values

As a Church of England Primary School, we ensure the Christian Values underpin all we do. They are the values we demonstrate when interacting with each other, when teaching and learning and when planning for the future. We focus on these values during Whole School and Class Worship. Children are rewarded for displaying these values through their behaviour and through their work. 

The Christian Values are:

Collective Worship

Collective Worship is an important part of every school day. We celebrate important dates within the Christian calendar but we also learn about other World Faiths. We meet as a whole school as a class. A greeting is used at the start and a candle is lit. Children listen to bible stories and consider how the teachings of the bible can impact on their own lives. We think about the Christian Values, the Global themes and British Values. Children are encouraged to participate by asking and answering questions. We sing hymns and songs with a Christian message. A variety of resources are used including 'Roots and Fruits', iSingPop, SPCK assemblies and the BBC. Collective Worship ends with a prayer and the sending. Children are encouraged to bring in their own prayers for our school file. Children leave Worship having reflected on the message and often with a thought or action to complete. On a Monday we celebrate attendance and on a Friday we celebrate achievements. 

Click here to see an example of Collective Worship Planning.

Worship Team

Children in Y6 make up our Worship Team. They are responsible for supporting Whole School Worship by organising the hall, choosing the greeting/sending, lighting the candle, managing the music and other resources, leading the prayer, giving out achievement stickers and helping younger children to leave worship in a respectful way. They also plan and lead Collective Worship once every half term. The Worship Team are excellent role models in they always demonstrate our Christian Values through their behaviour and attitudes.

Autumn 1 & Spring 2: Winnie and Evelyn

Autumn 2 & Summer 1: Hermione and Ruben

Spring 1 & Summer 2: Abby and Georgia

St George and St Mary's Church 

Gresley Church – A Church at the heart of the Community seeking to be: Rooted in Scripture, Relational, & Abundantly Generous.

Unfortunately, the local Church, St George and St Mary's is currently closed. We maintain our links with the church through Rev. Mike Firbank, who is also a trustee of Embark. Mike regularly comes into school to lead Worship. We are also visited each term by the local Christian Assembly Team.

If you would like to find out more about our local Church, and get involved, click here.

 

Derby Diocese

The Diocese of Derby consists of most of Derbyshire and a couple of parishes on the fringes of Staffordshire.

The cathedral is in Derby itself.

The diocese serves a population of around one million people and has more than 300 churches.

It works in communities, schools, prisons and hospitals as well being represented in various other aspects of city and county life.

Click here to find out more about the Derby Diocese.

Courageous Advocacy

We encourage our children to be courageous advocates for change. We do this by supporting a range of charities and raising awareness of different causes. These include Jeans for Genes, Children in Need, Comic/Sport Relief, NSPCC, Young Minds and the British Legion.

Developing Spirituality

We aim to develop a strong sense of spirituality by:
 Having a regular time in the day for quiet reflection. This might be listening to a story,
lighting a candle in collective worship or going for a walk.
 Providing many opportunities for creativity and using the imagination.
 Valuing play opportunities.
 Singing often, especially with others.
 Ensuring there is regular time for prayer including prayer before lunch and at home time.
 Providing frequent opportunities for children to explore, express and share feelings.
 Constantly reaffirming the importance of relationships.
 Providing opportunities to express awe and wonder and to appreciate beauty in all its forms.
 Encouraging each other to admit mistakes and to say sorry.
 Encouraging children to show kindness, caring and compassion, and to express these in practical ways. 
 Exploring the ‘Big Questions’ – particularly through our RE programme.
 Reading often to children and give them opportunities to discuss and reflect. This includes both secular and religious texts, in particular the Bible.  

School staff support spirituality through:
 Seeing the need to develop their own spirituality for their own wellbeing, and so that they can effectively support and help our children and each other.
 Establishing and maintaining a partnership between pupils, parents and staff; recognising and respecting the faith background of the children and their families.
 Taking part in, and supporting, collective acts of worship.
 Promoting an attitude of respect for other people and for others’ views.
 Nurturing consideration for and generosity towards others.
 Drawing on the experiences of pupils and their families during religious education lessons and beyond.
 Recognising and being constantly aware of the needs and backgrounds of each individual pupil.
 Being willing to develop their own knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith and the faiths of others.
 Having a positive attitude to the value of spiritual education.

 Being good role models in their conduct towards other members of the community

 Pupils can support spirituality through:
 Taking an active part in Collective Worship.
 Fully engaging with activities which promote the skills allowing them to engage in
examination of and reflection upon religious belief and practice (for instance during RE
lessons).
 Conducting themselves considerately and respectfully towards others.
 Respecting the views and beliefs of others.

Parents/Carers can support spirituality through:
 Adopting a positive attitude to the value of spiritual education.
 Supporting the school’s Christian ethos and acts of worship.
 Respecting the views and beliefs of all members of the school community.
 Modelling dignified and reflective behaviour to the children.

How do we know if this is effective?
Children love and accept themselves and enjoy good relationships with each other.

Children take an interest and delight in the world around them.

Children are able to express and understand feelings and have a strong moral sense and a love of what is good.

Children are able to enjoy quiet and stillness, they possess an active imagination, and
show joy in creativity and discovering new skills.

We use the ‘windows, mirrors and doors’ analogy to explain spirituality to the
children.
Windows
Opportunities for children to be aware of the world in new ways, looking out into the
world.
To wonder about life's 'WOWS' in terms of things that are amazing and take us by surprise.

Mirrors
Opportunities to reflect on experiences.
Looking inside yourself.
Consider life's big questions and reach for some possible answers.
Learning from life by exploring our own insights and those of others

Doors
Moving onto a new path or situation.
To do something creative to develop and apply our ideas.
Learning to live out our beliefs and values

Big Questions

At St George's we encourage children to think about the world around them by asking questions about what they see, hear and experience. 

Open-ended questions like those below seldom have right or wrong answers, but help to broaden children’s thinking processes, to develop their speech and language skills, and to build confidence in their ability to express themselves using words. Why not having a go at answering some with your child! 

What is our motto? What does it mean?

Who am I and where do I belong?

Which of our freedoms would be worst to lose?

Am I still me when things change?

Is it good to have our school values? What would it be like if we took the school values away?

How can we show respect to God and others?

What is most important to you?

What is the greatest choice we can make?

What do we want inside our 'house'?

What does God do to support us?

Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS)

The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is good at meeting the needs of all learners - SIAMS report Nov 2017
Christian values are at the heart of the school and it is proud of its inclusive and nurturing environment - SIAMS report Nov 2017

Please click here to read our latest SIAMS Inspection - November 2017

Please click here to read our SMSC Policy

Please click here to read our Collective Worship Policy

Please click here to read our Spirituality Policy

Please click here to read our RE Policy

Please click here to read the Statement of Entitlement

Please click here to read the RE Agreed Syllabus for Derbyshire and Derby City