Christian Distinctiveness

Our Vision:

“Creating confident, curious learners with God's love”

We, at Copthorne C.E Junior School, believe that every child and adult is unique. With God's love, we grow and learn together, encouraging everyone in our school family to "let their light shine" (Matthew 5:16).  We strive to be the best that we can be, knowing that "what will be has not yet been revealed" (1 John 3:2).  Through our Christian values, we flourish as one inclusive community. Our children move on to the next phase of their education with a lifelong love of learning and a compassionate and considerate approach to life.

Our Ethos:

The ethos of Copthorne Junior School is to work together to extend Jesus’ model of the Kingdom of God on earth, by living out a lifestyle through the Christian values and according to His teaching. We are inspired by His message, His life and example through which God’s unconditional love for all people is expressed. Recognising our historic foundation, we seek to preserve and develop the religious character of our school in accordance with the principles of the Church of England and in partnership with the local parish church and Chichester Diocese.

The school aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of our Christian beliefs and practices. Inspired by these values we aim to provide an exciting, fun and stimulating environment, where all children feel happy, safe, and motivated to achieve greater things. We celebrate academic achievement as well as success in sport and art and encourage our children to do the very best they can, to be unafraid to question and challenge, and to learn to solve problems creatively.

Our Values:

At Copthorne Junior School we believe that our Christian values can be both the driver and the vehicle for our school improvement. Our values are rooted in the biblical message of God’s love for us and how we in turn grow in our own expression of our own love for Him and for each other. “We love because He loves us first” (1 John 4:19).  In working out the message of God’s love, our school values are:

COURAGE               (having ENDURANCE, HOPE and standing up for JUSTICE)

CREATIVITY            (in CREATION, FRIENDSHIPS and THANKFULNESS)

CONFIDENCE         (through developing TRUST, PEACE and FORGIVENESS

COMPASSION        (alongside HUMILITY and SERVICE)

CURIOSITY             (challenged in seeking WISDOM, REVERENCE and LOVE) 

What do our values mean to us?

Our pupil Worship Leaders and School Councillors worked together and asked pupils of Copthorne what meaning they took from our School Values. Here is what they came up with:

Values Awards

For children who go above and beyond to display outstanding behaviour and attitude linked to our school value we are focusing on that half term, they are nominated to receive a special Values Award which is proudly hung on our Values Tree in the school entrance area for all to see. We ran a competition last year for children to design our Curiosity Value Award and the winning design was turned into the actual reward!

Historically, the school and St John's Church have been closely associated for many years.

The school is designated a Church Controlled School, which is exemplified by the close and valued connection between the church, school, community and Diocese.

Today, this relationship is developed with pupils in a number of ways:

• Through regular Worship in the School led by the vicar and members of the local community
• Attendance and preparation of special services, e.g. Harvest,  Remembrance, Easter and Leavers Services
• Children visiting St John's Church to learn about places of worship

To find out more about our community Church, please visit the St John's Church website.

We also have strong links with our Diocese. More information can be found here.

Collective Worship

As a school we believe that Collective Worship and sharing time together is a crucial part of our broader school life. The Collective Worship is linked to our school values, Christian festivals and key important dates in the Christian calendar. Worship is carried out every day, including a Celebration Worship on Tuesdays where children are recognised for their achievements with certificates and awards. Our local church are actively involved in the delivery of school worship. Children are regularly involved in worship and termly worships are lead by our Worship Leaders. To find out more about pupil-led collective worship, click here.

Reflection Areas and Prayer Spaces

Each classroom has a prayer space or ‘reflection area’ to enable children to explore faith and spirituality in a safe, creative and interactive way. We also have an inside prayer space with a 'wonder wall' where children can reflect on some of life's 'big questions' and write down answers or solutions. This space is regularly visited during our RE Weeks and as and when our pupils or staff need a quiet, welcoming space to reflect or explore their spirituality. We are currently planning the re-design of our outdoor prayer garden, with our pupil Worship Leaders, to be launched once the weather is warmer once more.

Pupil-Led Groups

Our children are given opportunities to become different representatives within school including being House or Sport Captains, joining the School Council,  becoming Autism Awareness Ambassadors or Worship Leaders. Their voices are heard, they plan and lead meetings and events, deliver worships, initiate new projects and disseminate ideas, taking feedback from their peers. Click on the icons below to find out more about each group.

Our School Prayer

Dear God,

Bless our school so that by working together,

playing together

and learning together,

we may learn to serve you

and each other.

Amen

SIAMS Inspection

SIAMS inspection focuses on the impact of the Church school’s Christian vision on pupils and adults. This involves looking at the school’s Christian vision, the provision the school makes because of this vision and how effective this provision is in enabling all pupils and adults to flourish.