Visions & Aims

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you
(John 15:12)

God the Father loves us and he sent his son Jesus, to show us how to care for each other. Love is a core Christian value for our school, because in the Bible we learn that God is Love and that God showed how much he loves us and how to love others, when he sent his son Jesus to live on earth. In our Pennington family love forms the basis of all that we do.
We share a love of learning, love for one another and love for the world that God made.

We show love to each other through small acts of kindness and through encouraging others with kind words, remembering that God loves us and we can love ourselves and others. We will let our love shine every day. This includes saying prayers for others, showing love in our choice of words – such as saying please and thank you. Showing kindness to others without being asked, and knowing when to help and when to let others learn for themselves etc.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.

(Matthew 7:12)

Respect is about valuing everyone and everything and celebrating our differences. We are all God’s people and we all matter. Indeed our school motto is ‘God gave each of us different gifts, together we can do great things.’  We celebrate our achievements – both in school and out – weekly in our Special Mention assembly.  Respect involves taking responsibility for each other and speaking and interacting with others in a courteous manner. Our Pennington Child charter states that we have rights and responsibilities, starting with the right to be part of the Pennington family and the responsibility to welcome everyone, and finishing with the right to be themselves and be proud and the responsibility to respect that everybody is different.  We encourage all stakeholders to live by these values.  As you enter the school office you are welcomed by a sign saying ‘When you walk through this door….You know you are loved, respected and valued’.

The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

(Psalms 116:5)

Compassion is caring about someone else’s feelings and trying our best to understand how others might be feeling and offering to help that person. We can show that we are kind and caring by doing acts of kindness for anyone, friends, family or even people we don’t know. As each child starts at Pennington C of E School they are given a Year 6 buddy who helps them through the year, and these buddies become good friends.  Each child is also put into a family group – each group having pupils from Reception up to Year 6.  These buddies and family groups frequently work and play together.  We also have playtime leaders who are there to help.  We have weekly PSHE lessons which help us to understand the thoughts, feelings and actions of others.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly

Father will also forgive you.

(Matthew 6:14) 

Jesus was uncompromising in his command to forgive. Forgive, he said, ‘seventy times seven’ (Matthew 18:21).  Our school behaviour system rewards good behaviour and provides pupils with an opportunity to think about behaviour that does not fit with our pupil charter. Each day the pupils start at the beginning, regardless of what has happened previously – a fresh start every day.  Children have the opportunity to think about others’ behaviour that has affected them, what they can do about it and most importantly how they can move on from it. Children are encouraged to apologise to others they may have upset, and to accept apologies given.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

 (Hebrews 11:1)

‘Hope is not wishful thinking but a firm assurance that God can be relied upon.’  At Pennington C of E School we regularly look to the Bible for inspiration, support and guidance, to enrich our collective worship and to help us understand the values we try to live by.  Our new logo has the cross at the centre to remind us that we can rely on God to guide us.  As it says on our website….

“We believe in not ‘standing still’, looking forward to a future that is full of promise and wonder.” 

We are always looking for ways to improve ourselves.  We conduct pupil and parent questionnaires, we have a parent voice group, our school and class councils actively look for things the school can do to move forwards.  We also look further afield, to how we can contribute to a better community and world around us.  We regularly participate in fund raising and charity events from harvest festival contributions for the local homeless shelter, the action group looking for ways to develop our local community to national events like Red Nose Day and Jeans for Genes. 

As it says on the front page of our website “At Pennington School, we are not afraid to dream!” and we do that with trust in God’s guidance.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.   (Psalm 28:7)

 For Christians the greatest of all acts of worship is simply called ‘thanksgiving’.  We carry out daily acts of worship in which we regularly thank God for what He has given us.  We also celebrate the skills and talents we have in our special mention assemblies.  We encourage the children to celebrate their local culture and traditions by participating in many local events like the Canal Anchor Festival or Another Fine Fest.  But we also encourage the children to look further afield, around the world, to see what cultures and traditions other countries have, what they are thankful for.  We use Picture News for some of our collective worship which helps us to know what is happening around the world, in different cultures and faiths.

The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride

(Ecclesiastes 7:8)

Patience is a person’s ability to cope with challenges without getting upset. It is showing tolerance and acceptance towards others, even accepting difficult situations from them, without making demands or conditions.  In the New Testament it is presented as endurance and self-restraint or not giving way to anger.  Having patience means you can remain calm.  Patience allows us to rely and trust in God’s timing regardless of circumstances.  In our collective worship we remind ourselves through story, song and prayer that we can trust in God.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

(Matthew 5:8)

 Being honest can sometimes be difficult, and we acknowledge that at Pennington C of E School.  But we encourage all children to be honest, to take responsibility for their own actions, to be proud of who they are.  We explore honesty and truthfulness not only through our collective worship but also through lessons about British values. We have an open culture and are proud to call ourselves a ‘talking school’.  We want pupils to realise that honesty is the best policy and this is often discussed and explored through circle time and collective worship.   We think about the importance of honesty and truthfulness in school and in society and we aim to equip the pupils to make informed moral choices.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

(2 Timothy 1:7)

Resilience is the strength of character to keep going even when we encounter a challenge.  Christians learn from the Bible how to keep going, knowing that they don’t have to do it alone.  The emphasis is not on how well they coped, but how they coped as they trusted God.  At Pennington we know that we can make mistakes – that is how we learn – and that things will not always go the way we want them to, but that we can try again.  The pupils and staff encourage each other, and this is seen in our staff meetings, our family days, our Special Mention assemblies, our creative homework sharing events and many, many other different ways.  We know that it is worth trying again, keeping going, and eventually we will achieve what we set out to achieve and be proud of the effort we put in to get there.