VISION:
Rooted in love, growing with faith, stronger together
At Iford and Kingston school we believe that all children have the right to develop into confident young learners and leaders, who are happy and well-rounded individuals, who are given the tools they need to reach and achieve their potential, to make mistakes and to flourish with love and support. We believe that providing a strong foundation in children's lives is considerably more than academic achievement; it is a foundation enhanced and enriched by faith. Faith can take many forms; whether this is belief in God, or teaching children to have self-belief, confidence, hope and aspiration for the future.
Our vision is linked to the Parable from the story of ‘The Parable of the Sower.’ Luke 8:15
‘And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.’
Jesus talks of a farmer who went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
The seeds that fall on good soil represent good and honest people who listen to God and his word. We believe that in order for a seed to grow, it needs a strong and good foundation. It needs love and nurture, guidance and support. In order for children to develop well, we need a whole community to contribute to the growth of that seed.
In order for the seeds to survive therefore, they need to be grounded.
VALUES:
Our Values:
Our holistic and supportive curriculum enables the children to discover, explore and create, to identify their talents and sense of self-worth. We work with our local community to ensure the children grow to be kind, with a strong sense of identify at school, and within the local and wider community.
Our school culture and ethos is rooted in six Christian Values:
Compassion, Responsibility, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Hope and Courage.
Each half term we focus on a value which is closely mapped to the key times of the Christian and school calendar, to make them even more purposeful and relevant to the lives of the children. All six values are deeply rooted in the school and across the curriculum which enables the children to develop a deep understanding of what these values means in their every day lives and how to use these values as building blocks to grow in faith and understanding, of themselves and of each other. Children learn about these values in assembly and during lesson time. Through prayer and reflection children consider what these values mean and why they are important to understand. Children sing hymns and hear bible readings associated with these values.
SIAMS
SIAMS Inspection
Under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005, Church schools are inspected under the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools.
SIAMS explores ways in which each school’s theologically rooted Christian vision drives its work and enables the school to live up to its foundation as a Church school. It does so by seeking to answer six inspection questions:
IQ1: How does the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision enable pupils and adults to flourish?
IQ2: How does the curriculum reflect the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision?
IQ3: How is collective worship enabling pupils and adults to flourish spiritually?
IQ4: How does the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision create a culture in which pupils and adults are treated well?
IQ5: How does the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision create an active culture of justice and responsibility?
IQ6: Is the religious education curriculum effective?
SIAMS inspection focuses on the impact of the Church school's Christian vision on pupils and adults. This involves looking at the school’s Christian vision, the provision the school makes because of this vision, and how effective this provision is in enabling all pupils to flourish.