'I can do all things through God, who strengthens me.'

(Philippians 4:13)

At Hempsted Church of England Primary School, we believe in core Christian values and these permeate all that we do. We expect staff and pupils to demonstrate our vision and values in their daily lives. These values help guide us in how we support our whole school community each and every day.

To help us achieve this, we use a resource called ‘Roots and Fruits’ in our collective worship. Staff, pupils and governors were consulted on which of the values in this resource we would focus on. We have chosen together: compassion, respect, truthfulness, thankfulness, friendship and perseverance. We explore these values through a variety of bible stories, quotations, poetry, song, art and drama. This happens in whole school collective worship, class collective worship and sometimes in reaction to an event that was unforeseen.

In our entrance hall, there is always a display of the value that is being focused on. We also communicate our value through our school newsletter and the parish magazine. We also ask teachers to weave the values into the curriculum so that we can further deepen our understanding on how we should live.

On a Friday, we hold a ‘values celebration’ collective worship. The classes sit in their ‘house families’, which means the ages of the children are mixed, and that siblings can sit together. Children are encouraged to ask questions about the current value and we talk through these questions in an open, honest and relaxed manner. Each teacher will also award a ‘values postcard’ to a child in their class who has lived out one of our school values during that week – quite often this child will have been nominated by their classmates.

Below, you will find activity sheets for the current term's value, full of stories, facts and fun to enjoy at home.