Pollington-Balne CE Primary School is a school driven by clear aims and values, rooted in Christian theology with a strong sense of community.

Our vision is based on the Church of England vision, 'to encounter Jesus is to be invited into ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10): each person is utterly precious.”

At Pollington - Balne our Christian Vision drives our mission, inspiring a vision of education that involves

· achieving and aspiration – a school in which children aspire to achieve their personal utmost

· being and belonging [belonging and becoming] – a place in which strong roots enable personal flourishing

· care and community – a school that is from and for the community

Achievement And Aspiration

“Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.” (I John 3:2)

“Good schools foster confidence, delight and discipline in seeking wisdom, knowledge, truth, understanding, know-how, and the skills needed to shape life well” (Church of England Vision for Education, p.7)

At Pollington we aim to support children through the Pollington Curriculum to acquire wisdom ,new skills and knowledge to serve them for life. We strive for academic excellence, creating an ethos of a school in which all children are challenged and supported in their learning. We affirm the Church of England’s Vision for schools wherein children are “encouraged to stretch themselves…intellectually, imaginatively and actively, and to aspire to be well-educated. “ (Church of England Vision for Education p.10)

Children should be the best they can be and for this to happen, we need aspiration. Aspiration is a vital part of high achievement – we encourage children to aim high to achieve their utmost, with courage and perseverance in their learning. With this in mind our school is a place of challenge, but there are two essential and theological components to that challenge.

The first is a spirit of thankfulness and enthusiasm for God’s world and learning. Our school context gives us ready access to the wonder of God’s creation, but we also ensure a broad and balanced curriculum that encourages curiosity, an enquiring mind and a love of learning.

Our sense of challenge and achievement is also something we undertake together. “The God of wisdom, love, compassion and peace, in whose image we are created, is utterly relational. “ (Church of England Vision for Education p.8) The Christian Trinitarian belief that we thrive and flourish in fellowship with one another creates a team ethos to our aspiration in which each individual wants their best but will also work to enable others to secure their best.

Being And Belonging [Belonging And Becoming]

"What shall we say the Way of God is like?" asked Jesus. "What image shall we use to explain it? It is like this. Someone takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground. After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all trees. It puts out such large branches that the birds come and make their nests in its shade." (Mark 4:30-32)

Jesus' parable provides an image for the way children can be and become the person themselves, in our school. Children’s experience of our school can be symbolized by the image of a tree , in which we create strong roots to enable the branches to flourish and grow. To aspire as we do, children need to trust the security that comes from the roots we provide in a school where they can be themselves and become the characterful person they will be. Strong roots enable an emotional resilience and robustness and, rooted as we are in a rural community, we recognize the security Christ taught us to see in the natural world and find reflected in the people we become (Matthew 6:25-34).

We have a strong sense of the character of a Pollington Balne Child, and it inspires hope for their future. To nurture this we ensure excellent care and guidance where children are enabled to be safe ,happy and healthy.

We appreciate every child, valuing all God’s Children. In our school staff are fully committed to the children and to creating those secure roots. We also recognize a strong sense of belonging amongst our children and this evidences itself in a kindness and care that crosses age groups. To these we add the place of friendship, truthfulness and forgiveness in relationships. To provide this place of belonging we

ensure the dignity and acceptance of every child. To quote the Psalmists ancient use of fearful as meaning referring to awesomeness all can say: “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.” (Ps 139:13,14)

Recognition of this God-given dignity leads us to create a place of belonging that accepts and appreciates all, and a place of diversity, where the values of respect and inclusion guide our work.

Community And Care: School Community

“We are only persons with each other: our humanity is ‘co- humanity’, inextricably involved with others, utterly relational” (Church of England Vision for education, p.7.) Following the commandment to “Love your neighbour” (Matt 22:37-39)we seek to nurture a spirit of courageous advocacy in our children, motivated by compassion and generosity. We aim for our children to become good citizens who know and express the value of service and justice in their locality and in relation to the wider world.

Pollington Balne is a school that springs from and exists for the local community. We are a Church of England school and this means we follow the vision of Joshua Watson, founder of the National Society, to provide schools for the community. We seek to give to our local community but also recognize the blessing of all that we receive from that same community. We appreciate the love shown by the community for its school. The Christian faith teaches that values such as love and care need to find their outworking in action. (I John 3:16-18)We promote the Christian identity of our school through positive relationships and partnerships with the children, their families and the wider community.

We value justice and service. Children at Pollington Balne learn citizenship, community responsibility and are also taught to be courageous advocates – to “be the change you want to see in the world” (Gandhi).

We also value compassion and generosity. Respect for the community comes in the way we encounter some of the key moments in the lives of those within our community and the care we show for one another. 1 We also engage in activities for the wider community.