Our Christian Vision at St James’ CE Primary School

At St James’ Church of England Primary School, children will understand that our strength comes from God. By following in Jesus’ footsteps, with spiritual mindsets at the heart of everything we do, we are shaping confident, thoughtful, courageous advocates of the future and growing God’s kingdom on Earth. 

Our vision inspires and challenges the community we serve in Worsley Mesnes to achieve excellence in all they do, and to learn about life in all its fullness, within a welcoming Christian family.

School Aims – How we use our Christian vision in our school

• Every child feels valued, safe and cared for, and makes a positive contribution to their own development and the life of the school, with Christ at its centre
• Our bespoke curriculum, based on excellence and high expectations, provides rich experiences which motivates, challenges, develops resilience and meets the needs of all children
• Every child achieves their potential and develops their talents and creativity, preparing them for a role in a global society with a lifelong love for learning
• Children & families develop understanding of a faith and Christian values that can guide their lives; knowing Jesus, and putting into action what they are coming to believe and value
• The whole school family flourishes and serves the local church and community
• Spiritual mindsets are cultivated throughout our curriculum

 At St James’, Religious Education is far more than just an academic subject. In keeping with our mission statement, we aim to work alongside parents to bring children to a deeper understanding of the truths of the Christian faith. Through explicit teaching about Jesus and the Church, and the development of prayer and worship in school, we provide daily experiences where children live the gospel values; have respect for the opinions and beliefs of others, and grow in their own faith. We see this as our core purpose, and alongside their formation as children of God, we strive to ensure that each child fulfils their God-given potential -academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.

School governors include our local Vicar, Rev Mark Wade, who opens and closes each meeting in prayer to ask God to guide the governing body to make the best decisions for the pupils, parents, staff and community of St James’. The RE link governor informs the governing body as to how our faith is lived through the lessons and our RE scheme of work has been devised by the Blackburn Diocese- Questful RE which the Liverpool Diocese has adopted. Our Christian values permeate all lessons throughout our curriculum. All subject leaders ensure that a Bible quote relating to their subject is included within their policy and schemes of work are designed to include spiritual links to Christianity wherever possible.

We are lucky to have very close links with our Parish Church. The children attend St James’ Church once a term, as well to celebrate together at significant liturgical moments in the year. Our friendly Vicar is a regular visitor to our school, supporting in classes and delivering a whole school assembly every week.

We celebrate Advent and Christmas by attending a whole school service, and through our KS1 nativity plays. We celebrate Easter in assembly and do various activities alongside this.

Vicar on the Box

Rev Mark sharing the blessing with our children, parents, carers, staff and the whole community.

Here is our prayer tree which is located in the school entrance.

The St James' children and our school community are invited to add a prayer to the branches.