Building Strong Futures Together

 

As a Church of England School, we believe in the importance of strong foundations. Jesus is described as the cornerstone of our faith (Ephesians 2:20-22) and we are encouraged as Christians to build wisely in our lives (1 Corinthians 3:11-17).

At Sandal Castle, our logo is of our local landmark, a ruined castle, which has stood on a rock for hundreds of years. The castle’s continued strength throughout storms and battles speaks to us of the resilience and solidity we can have when we have strong foundations. We are inspired by the example of Jesus who found peace and strength in the midst of storms (Mark 4:35-41).

Jesus’ parable about the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24-27) ends his most famous teaching, the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7). He uses the story to illustrate the importance of putting into practice our learnings in life – being doers not just hearers of good teaching.

Our belief at Sandal Castle is that we prepare children for their futures by enabling them to build strong foundations – specifically in the way that children interact with opportunities for learning.

Jesus’ parable is an illustration that is relevant in two specific ways to our school community.

Our aim is to give each child opportunities to excel by learning and by putting into practice what they have learnt in the curriculum. Alongside this our aim is to give each child an opportunity to flourish by learning and by putting into practice that which grows their character and spirituality. We believe that nourishing understanding works on these two levels – understanding intellectually and understanding emotionally and that both areas require investment.

We note that some of Jesus’ moral teaching in the sermon on the mount teaches values that we aim for the children at Sandal Castle to grow into – teachings such as being light in dark places, loving others even those we find difficult, being generous to those in need, nurturing healthy spirituality, having healthy relationships with money, learning to manage our worry, not judging others, and treating others as we would like to be treated (all found in Matthew 5-7).

As part of our Christian ethos, we echo the Bible’s teaching that each of us are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and each person is precious and worthy of respect. As we treat others as we wish to be treated, we seek to demonstrate understanding and inclusivity of people in their diversity. We build strong futures not in isolation but by working together for the good of all.

We recognise the importance of caring for God’s creation (Genesis 1 and 2) as part of building for the future of our children and seek to cultivate respect for our planet. We reflect God’s creativity in creation by cultivating creativity in each of us through music, art and play.

Our vision and values were developed during the autumn term of 2023. We gained input from parents, students, governors and staff before the final decisions were made by a focus group representing these various stakeholders.