Who are we?
Our Vision
We respect each other and are proud of each other's achievements. We foster a love of learning and a determination to embrace new challenges. We are creative and enthusiastic in all of our teaching and learning and work together in a safe and happy environment, with Christian values at the heart of all we do.
At Aberford C of E Primary School, we are a family.
Our vision at Aberford CE Primary is based on the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:
Three things will last forever - faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is love.
Our Core Values
We defined our core value by working together with all stakeholders to look at the Christian Values we embrace within our school and asked ourselves which defined us the best. Our children's ACE Committee then met to pull together the findings and ensure that each group was represented in our final decisions. Our Core Values were defined as :
Friendship Respect Community Hope
.PNG)
How Our Values Shape Us For The Future
We asked former pupils to reflect on how our school's Christian Values had influenced them during their time at Aberford. The responses we received were overwhelming and really showed what a positive impact educating children through a strong Christian Vision can have. Here is an example of a former pupil's views:
Church of England Vision for Education:
Our vision for education is deeply Christian, with Jesus' promise of 'life in all its fullness' at its heart.
In line with the Church of England's role as the established Church, our vision is for the common good of the whole community.
Educating for wisdom, knowledge and skills
- enabling discipline, confidence and delight in seeking wisdom and knowledge, and developing talents in all areas of life.
Educating for hope and aspiration
- enabling healing, repair and renewal, coping wisely when things go wrong, opening horizons and guiding people into ways of fulfilling them.
Educating for community and living well together
- a core focus on relationships, participation in communities and the qualities of character that enable people to flourish together.
Educating for dignity and respect
- the basic principle of respect for the value and preciousness of each person, treating each person as a unique individual of inherent worth.
Church of England Statement of Entitlement
SIAMS - Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools
The inspection process for Diocesan Church Schools is now called ‘Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools’.
SIAMS inspectors will explore with school and trust leaders how they understand the specific context of the school, and whether they know how to respond to it theologically. Local, diocesan, and national expertise will help school and trust leaders to explore this, so that they can be confident in answering three key questions:
1. Who are we as a school?
2. What are we doing here?
3. How, then, shall we live and learn together?
Importantly, the 2023 SIAMS Framework highlights and seeks understanding of the theology that underpins a school’s Christian vision. It also provides a structure for inspectors and school and trust leaders to, collaboratively, gather evidence of how this vision enables people to flourish. Using this evidence, inspectors then make judgements, holding school and trust leaders to account.
Click here to read the Siams framework in order to understand the criteria that church schools are judged against.
2022 Church School Inspection
In May 2022, we were judged to be a good Church of England school, under the 2020 Siams framework. We are very proud of the final inspection report. It exemplifies the continuous and strong dedication that all our school community shows in ensuring that our school is the very best that it can be.
Siams report
Collective Worship
Collective worship is an important and special time for all of our school community. Children and adults alike love this vibrant start to each day and worship time always creates a buzz of excitement as children enter the hall. It is a time for pupils to reflect upon their life experiences and to seek out answers to big questions. Children participate enthusiastically and are always keen to share their thoughts and feelings about the value we are focusing on.
Worship in school is planned mainly around the Roots and Fruits Scheme, which bases our acts of worship on one of our 18 Christian values. Each half term we focus on a specific value. This half term that value is courage.
Children and adults explore this value in depth throughout the half term and look at how it helps us to live our lives in a fruitful and productive manner.
Child-led Worship
Our ACE Committee regularly lead collective worship and run our Celebrations Worship each week in school. The rest of our school community look forward to this time each week and our ACE Committee show great enthusiasm, compassion and care when involving the rest of school, especially to our younger pupils in school. ACE Committee also plan Collective Worship sessions around Church Calendar events and present these to the rest of school
Our Timetable
Collective Worship is the beating heart of our school and sets the tone for each day in school.
| Worship | |
| Monday | Whole School Values Worship |
| Tuesday | Whole School Worship through Song |
| Wednesday | Whole School Worship - Bible Stories |
| Thursday | Class Worship - reflecting on our values |
| Friday | Whole School Celebrations + Christian Values Awards |
Collective Worship
York Diocese
Our school is part of the York Diocese and works closely with the team to help us develop our Church of England ethos. An introduction to the Diocesan Board of Education can be found here: https://dioceseofyork.org.uk/schools-and-youth/schools-education-homepage/what-we-do/the-board-of-education/
Our Church - St Ricarius
We visit church regularly for celebrations such as Harvest, Christmas and Easter and invite our families in to worship with us.
Spirituality
At Aberford C of E Primary School we believe that spiritual development is a fundamental aspect of children's personal progress that exists beyond faith or religious affiliation. We develop spirituality by being creative and engaging, by enabling our pupils to connect with stories, by empowering our children to ask and respond to questions, by promoting play and creativity, by developing relationship and by providing a sense of belonging.
At Aberford, we believe that spirituality is an awareness that there is something other, greater than the course of everyday life.
How do we do this:
- have regular times in the day for quiet reflection
- have regular opportunities to explore, express and share feelings
- see positive relationships modelled around school, ensuring a clear demonstration of how we talk and relate to each other
- have opportunities to express awe and wonder and appreciate beauty in all its forms
- be encouraged to reflect on mistakes and say sorry where appropriate
- promote big questions and value children's responses
- regular inclusive and meaningful Collective Worship which encourages personal reflection
The impact:
- Children take interest and delight in the world around them and are open to what lies beyond the material
- Children are able to express and understand feelings and respect those of others
- Children have a strong moral sense and a love of what is good
- Children are able to enjoy quiet and stillness
- Children show joy in creativity and in discovering and nurturing new skills
