“St Michael’s is a happy school where the pupils and staff share many special moments together building a lifetime love for learning. It is filled with imagination, nurture, enthusiasm, creativity, risk taking and challenge with our core Christian values of Honesty, Respect and Love weaving their way throughout all that we do.” Judith Arkwright, Headteacher
Our vision is for a school where a love for learning and an appreciation of God’s world will last our children a lifetime. See our Visions and Values here.
St Michael’s C of E School is proud to be part of the Diocese of Salisbury and our local family of 6 churches which together make the Whitton Team Benefice.
What does being a church school mean to us?
Since being founded by the church almost 200 years ago our school has grown and flourished, and continues to benefit from a strong relationship with our church family. We enjoy numerous visits from members of the church such as the Open the Book team, lunchtime Explorers Club, Collective Worship and love spending time in the church building for celebrations marking key moments in the school year.
Marvelling and immersing ourselves in God’s creation in the churchyard during Count on Nature week in the summer is another highlight. Born from our links to the church, it helps us to develop an appreciation for God’s wildlife in our own village that will hopefully last a lifetime. Treasuring creation and learning in God’s natural world is also an important aspect of our wonderful Forest School, OPAL programme and continuous provision in KS1.
At school, the children learn to love people who are different from them and who believe different things; we warmly welcome children and families from all backgrounds. The Bible tells us that each of us is precious in God’s eyes, loved and valued beyond measure and we nurture everyone to enable them to become the people God made them to be.
God tells us to love him with our minds just as much as with our hearts. We go to school to learn about God’s world and to learn to think. Our vision encourages us to have ‘a lifetime love for learning’ and our core values are LOVE, HONESTY and RESPECT.
Our butterflies (displayed in the school entrance and in the classrooms), represent an image of flourishing. The butterfly flourishes because it is secure in the knowledge that it is loved by God and those around it enabling it to grow in a lifetime love for learning.
The Bible tells us, “Jesus grew in mind and body, loved by God and those who knew him.” Luke 2:52. Our specially commissioned school painting provides a visual reminder of this. It helps us all, pupils and staff, to be reminded of God’s love for us, and celebrates the love and care we show to one another as we grow in mind and body.
With the help of the Church community, we spent a day exploring the Boy in the Temple story in Luke’s gospel from which our bible verse is taken. This helped us all to understand how our school vision is deeply rooted in the teachings of the Bible.
What do our pupils say about our Christian Distinctiveness?
“Respect is love and honesty put together. To respect a member of staff or a student means you need to show honesty and love.”
“Our PSHE lessons help by teaching us about other cultures.”
“The Bible stories help us because in lots of them they show kindness and love. They show us examples of what might happen and what we can do.”
What do our parents say about our Christian Distinctiveness?
We asked our parents to share their thoughts on when our school has shown love, honesty and respect. These are some of the responses.
“All of the time! ALL the staff are SO supportive of both myself and my child, they are amazing! “
“Every morning – when my child is welcomed through the school gates by Mrs Arkwright and then given a big welcome by his teacher.”
“Everyday, when they celebrate my children’s achievements. When I notice that every teachers knows my children’s names. They are happy to come to school and we are happy to send them here. We feel it is such a special place.”
What do our staff say about our Christian Distinctiveness?
We asked our staff to share their thoughts on when our school has shown love, honesty and respect. These are some of the responses.
“All the children show a great deal of love and respect for children who have additional needs in school.”
“I would say that everything is done with love in school from the exciting learning to the care and nurture given to the most needy children.”
“Love, honesty and respect is visible everywhere at St Michael’s. It has been shown to me over the years with support and time offered when I’ve been needed by my family. It is shown to the pupils in the ways which we remove the barriers to learning and adopt strategies which meet their diverse needs.”
“Too many to choose! I’m always blown away with how well they know me, and can swoop in and give me whatever it is I need in that moment. Whether it’s time off, training, resources or just a hug.”
“Staff members always show respect by listening to the problem, they show love by helping to find a solution and the show honesty in the advice that they give.”
“There is a an honest and open dialogue between the head teacher and governors.”
“Teachers’ love is shown by their care for children and wellbeing.”
“We show love by ensuring a safe school environment.”
“School showed a lifetime love of learning by going the extra mile to get year groups back for one day at end of term.”
