How we live this out in our school

At St. Bartholomew’s we believe passionately that our vision statement, ‘Hand in hand we learn, we grow, we soar’ empowers every member of the school community with a sense of identity, belonging and purpose. Enabling everyone to ‘soar’ is at the heart of all our decision making, ensuring our vision is a living, breathing entity that permeates every element of our school’s drive for excellence.

The word 'soar' not only has connotations of reaching heights you never imagined, but also celebrates each of our classes being named after significant British birds. It is a word that we use when articulating our expectations of one another in terms of behaviour, learning and school improvement.

We chose a Phoenix as our vision vessel, a mythical bird that, like any good school, is able to continually reinvent itself, returning stronger, bolder and brighter than before. Our Phoenix is the first and last image you see when you visit our school – a daily reminder of what we strive to achieve for our school community. #soar

The inspiration for this has its origins in Isaiah 40:31 - ‘but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’

We have six core, distinctly Christian values which drive our vision.

Courage

I rise to a challenge and am brave.

Kindness

I am friendly and caring in my words and actions.

Perseverance

I don’t give up and I bounce back from my mistakes.

Trust

I am honest and helpful and make the right choices.

Respect

I treat others how I would like to be treated.

Love

I have love for myself, for others and for God.

There are graphics around the school and in every classroom reminding us all of our school’s uniqueness.

How we achieved this  

Every member of the school team – teachers, TAs, admin, premises, mid-day supervisors and governors were invited to attend a session in which they were given a post-it-note and asked the following questions:

‘Why do you do what you do?’

‘Why do you choose to do it at St. Bartholomew’s?’

They were then asked to share their ‘whys’ with other adults in the room. Once they had been given an opportunity to articulate their answers to these questions, we then asked:

‘How does our current vision support this?’

‘What common words, phrases and values articulate our collective ‘whys’?’

These views and considerations were collated and used to collaboratively design our vision statement and values.  Children and their families were then consulted and invited to share their thoughts and views enabling them to feel partners in creating our vision and living out ‘hand in hand’