Our Ethos Statement

We aim to serve our community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of religious belief and practice. We encourage an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and promote Christian and British values through the experiences we offer to all our pupils.

Through recognising our historical foundation, Wymondham, St Peter's Church of England Primary School, will preserve and develop our religious character in accordance with the principles of the Church of England and in partnership with our Trust and local churches, at parish and diocesan level, whilst respecting the views of those with no religion, belief or faith. We are an inclusive school and as such our school family is strengthened.  

                                                                                               1 Peter 3:8

Origins of our Vision Statement

Letter to parents 14th September 2022

Dear Parents

I am delighted to inform you that our new vision statement has been finalised. Our community has collectively chosen: “Have love for one another, a tender heart and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8).

The link to the name of our school and St Peter’s Church in Wymondham was a determining factor in the decision-making process. Typical comments included: “We love that there is a link to Peter and we think it is a really positive message to have love for one another which we feel shines through our school and our school family.”

Other comments included: “It reflects the nature of the school, which comes across as a place of kindness, friendliness and most of all, the children are seen on an equal footing.”

“This statement speaks volumes; it speaks of kindness to everyone.“

"The verse would also work well as a school call-and-response at collective worship:

V. Let us love one another, R. with a tender heart and a humble mind.”

We also asked the children for some comments and they replied:

“A tender heart means loving one another.”

“Having a humble mind means not boasting about things you are good at.”

“If you are humble you know your limits and help others”.

The statement is also particularly poignant as Jesus referred to Peter in the gospels as being ‘a rock...on which to build my church’ (Matthew 16.13-20, where Peter has found that the key to life is Jesus himself): we see our school as the solid foundation on which to build lives, a future, a diverse community that live well together.

Those who are eagle-eyed, will have noticed the keyhole on the door in our school logo; something we were passionate about including when we had it re-designed last year. Jesus gave Peter “the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” A key was a badge of authority (Luke 11:52 ) and then, as now, was used to open doors. Our hope at Wymondham School, is that we give the keys for our children to open the doors of faith; the doors to learning and knowledge; the doors to aspiration, confidence and creativity so that all feel loved, valued and respected so that they flourish and succeed in life.

Rev. David has also suggested that on June 29th we could join in with the church’s celebration of the Feast of Peter…plenty of time to think about and plan for this! If you have any further suggestions or comments to make, please email us or speak to us at the gate as we greatly value your contributions.

Thank you for helping us to choose this pertinent vision statement that reflects our wonderful school.

Yours sincerely,

A.Scott                J.V.Hopkins                   H.Sykes

Head of School  Executive Headteacher Chair of Governors

Valuing Our Distinctly Christian Ethos

Our Values

Guided by Christian and British values, we maintain that learning should be an exciting and enjoyable experience for everyone (adults and children); it should be fun and interactive, challenging and celebratory so a love for learning deepens.

Our Christian values support our spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as we grow and learn together in a happy, safe, aspirational environment. Through God’s example, we celebrate the uniqueness of each individual and endeavour to unlock their full potential. We inspire and enable our children to contribute to and thrive in a diverse society through promoting the following core values: 

Kindness, Peace, Hope, Forgiveness, Helpfulness and Respect 

In so doing, our vision is that our whole community will have love for one another and will develop a tender heart and humble mind so that all may flourish and succeed.

Our vision also links to the vision of Rise Multi-Academy Trust, The Leicester Diocese Board of Education vision and the Church of England's vision for education.

Our School Logo

Wymondham Windmill, a 200 year old Living Mill is a local landmark that attracts many visitors throughout the year.

The force of the wind helps the sails rotate in a circular motion, creating transformation from within. In the same way, the energy of God's love and the love of our family encircles us so that we can live life in all it's fulness, enabling us to flourish and succeed. 

Wheat is transformed into flour, which is then transformed into bread. The bread is seen by Christians as a representation of the body of Christ and as such, Christ has an energy that carries great wisdom, strength, courage and love.

The door on our windmill, is in the shape of a keyhole, which has links with St Peter's Church in Wymondham and is 'open' and inclusive to all. Our school and church, working in partnership together with families, holds the key to a world of possibilities and unlocks the potential of all who enter.

Peter being given the keys to kingdom by Jesus: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19).

Our Weeping Willow

The weeping willow is an integral part of our school grounds. It provides shelter and a place where friendships blossom and grow.

Green, like the leaves on the branches, the willow symbolises nature, fruitfulness and life. It also represents balance, nourishment, learning, growth and harmony. Our image of the willow tree represents strength and stability, standing firm and withstanding the passage of time and all its challenges, rooted in firm Christian foundations that enable each part of the tree to flourish and thrive. This will give our children the wings to fly.

Collective Worship at Wymondham

Collective Worship is a very important part of our day to share our vision and values through recognising the love of God. 

We listen to and act out Bible stories; think about current news, other faiths and every day experiences; we pray; sing together; and celebrate our personal achievements.

Rev. David joins us weekly to lead worship and we visit church regularly. 

Children enjoy leading worship, sharing their own thoughts and reflections. They include PowerPoints, videos, plays, Bible readings and prayer with quizzes to see how much the children have learnt.

Click on the link below to take you to our dedicated areas.

Spirituality At Our School

Spiritual development relates to the quest for individual identity and the search for meaning and purpose in our existence. It leads towards the understanding of self and others; the natural world and beyond; how to love and be loved.

It has to do with feelings, emotions, attitudes and beliefs: things that we care about, things that move us, things we are curious about and love. It is not linked solely to a particular religion, doctrine or faith. It is something we experience on a personal level.

Spiritual development is therefore accessible to everyone.

Understanding Spirituality

At Wymondham School, we think of spirituality in terms of making connections...like Lego!

When we build Lego, we join bricks with other bricks; we link them together to create something bigger and more fabulous.

The four elements of Spirituality in school

Spirituality looks to explore our connections and relationships with: 

• Ourselves
• Others
• The World
• Beyond

Nurturing and developing Spirituality 

We provide a range of planned and unplanned opportunities for children to develop their own spiritual journey. These opportunities are across the whole curriculum in order to educate the whole child. Activities teach the children to reflect and consider their own connections through the following symbolism as an aide memoire, to trigger those connections with spirituality throughout their lives:

• Mirrors: Children learn about themselves
• Windows: Children learn about life
• Doors: Children step out into the world, living out their Christian values through their connection with others
• Candles: Children make connections with the things they cannot see

We encourage children to build on their talents and to dream big so they can make an impact on the world. 

We visit the church and other places of worship so that we can think beyond our own beliefs. 

Our ‘Leicestershire syllabus’ and ‘Understanding Christianity’ units that we use encourage children to reflect on their learning and dig deeper with their questioning. Spirituality is not only explored in our RE lessons but across all areas of our curriculum. We give children the opportunity to share their thinking and opinions each day.  

Charity and supporting the world is so very important to us. We believe that small acts of kindness make a huge impact in the world. We can all make a difference to the world, we just have to believe it.

Light a candle

British Values

The government has set out its definition of British values in the 'Prevent Strategy' and emphasises that schools are required to ensure these values are taught across the United Kingdom.

At Wymondham Church of England Primary School we have always recognised the importance of educating our children so that they understand the multi-faith and multi-cultural Britain we live in today. We provide opportunities and life experiences that will help our children to contribute to an ever changing, diverse society throughout their lives.

Democracy

Democracy is embedded at our school. Pupils are taught to listen carefully and with concern for each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. Our pupils are taught the value of respecting themselves and others around them, as well as their belongings and world around them. Children have the opportunity to express their opinions and ideas through our School Council, for example, which is made up of elected members from each class by pupil votes, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action. Our robust behaviour policy, devised by the children with staff, governors and parents, involves both rewards and sanctions; children are clear about the expectations at our school as they were all involved in creating the school rules.

The Rule of Law

The importance of laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, is consistently reinforced through our curriculum, behaviour system and through Collective Worship. Each class discusses our School Rules to ensure they understand what is expected and to learn about making sensible choices; this ensures that every child is able to learn in a happy, safe environment where everyone supports one another. We expect our children to behave impeccably when they are on trips and visits outside of school; they are taught, through our behaviour policy, what happens if they break the rules and that the wrong choices have consequences. Our children are always praised for their excellent behaviour and attitude when out of school or when we receive visitors; they demonstrate respectfulness and understand justice.

Individual Liberty

Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a secure environment and an empowering education. Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely and sensibly; examples of this can be seen in our teaching of e-safety, for example. Whether it is through the curriculum or through participation in our extra- curricular activities, our pupils are given the freedom to make choices. Pupils are also given the opportunity to engage in their own learning through setting their own personal targets with their teacher and through self-assessment of their work.

Mutual Respect

Respect is one of the core values that is tangible at our school. The teaching and learning of Christian values is inherent in all we do, but specifically taught through Religious Education, Collective Worship, Leadership days and Personal Social Health and Citizenship Education(PSHCE). This helps to develop self-esteem and positive relationships with others. Children embrace leadership roles such as Worship Monitors and the Anti-bullying Steering Group where they put together presentations for the rest of school and influence policy and practice. Other children respond respectfully and willingly and eagerly answer questions and respond readily to evaluations which the leaders incorporate into their plenaries.

Tolerance of those with Different Faiths and Beliefs

Our school enhances pupils understanding of different faiths and beliefs through a broad approach to Religious Education, using the Leicester Syllabus for RE and Understanding Christianity, through our daily acts of Collective Worship and our varied PSHCE curriculum. Our worship time includes sharing ideas, events, prayer, music and stories to learn about diversity. We visit a variety of different places of worship, such as Sikh and Hindu temples, Catholic and Methodist churches as well as Leicester Cathedral and we recognise different festivals through our project work and links with other schools. We participate in sporting events across Leicestershire and music festivals which enable them to meet and work with people from many different backgrounds.

Church School Effectiveness

SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools)

Our school was inspected by the Diocese of Leicester under Section 48 of the Education Act in November 2017.

Key findings

Relationships within the whole school community are strong, reflecting its deeply rooted Christian character.

Leaders are working with parents, the church, the diocese and the Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust to improve the school further and as a result standards of attainment have risen in 2017.

The leadership of collective worship and religious education (RE) is strong and both are contributing to pupils’ development.

St Peter’s is a harmonious school, ‘like a family’ where relationships are strong and underpinned by Christian values including kindness, faith, trust, forgiveness, respect, friendship, love and courage. These values are evident in all aspects of the school’s work and all members of the school community describe the significant impact they have upon behaviour, relationships and achievement.

Learners are confident and enthusiastic. They benefit from a rich curriculum with many enrichment activities and links with other local schools which together provide good opportunities for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development. For example, children have taken part in fundraising for Macmillian Cancer Support with a ‘Dress up and Dance Day’, regularly take part in services at the church and have performed the nativity and the musical ‘Cinderella Rockerfella’ for parents and friends, to name a few. Displays in all classrooms and in the school hall remind children about the school’s key Christian values and this supports their spiritual development.

Collective worship is central to the life of the school and an opportunity for pupils, staff, parents and the wider community to come together to learn, reflect, pray and to sing. It is skilfully used to develop learning about Christian values and biblical teaching and children state ‘It helps us to be more like God: kind, loving, forgiving.’ Leaders clearly describe the importance of worship as a way of building relationships across the whole community, teaching children to ‘support one another’ and the importance of service to others. As a result children are well behaved and support many charitable events.