DIOCESE OF ST. ASAPHONLY THE BEST WILL DO!

Neville Norcross27th November, 2014

• Developing your school’s Christian character1

• What is an inspector looking for?2

• What does a good church school look like?3

Today’s Overview

Changes to the Gwella framework

CQ1Distinctive Christian Character

Spot the Difference

Diamond Nine

Question to ask:

Do we have agreed core

Christian values?

Do we understand

the values as distinctively Christian?

Do they make a

difference to children’s

lives?

The impact of our values

• Personal Development

• Well-Being

• Behaviour

• Achievement

• Attendance

• Hope

• Trust

• Service

• Koinonia

• EnduranceActivity

SMSC - sharing good practice

• Times of reflection within worship and beyond

• A sense of right and wrong based on the teachings of Jesus

• Develop relationships within school and between school, the parish and the wider community

• Christianity from a global perspective / promoting respect through non-Christian faiths

Handout

Creating a reflective space in a church school

Christian leadership course

October 2013

We began with the Bible story of Samson and thought about physical strength and then made the link to physical strengths/strength of character. We thought about how we might encourage the children to identify their own strengths and how they might use these strengths to help others. We also thought about how our strengths might affect others.

Mirror – look in the mirror – can you see your inner strength?

Window – whose strengths do you admire and why?

Door – what will I do to become stronger? Who might help me?

Strength – primary example

We discussed the Tate and Lyle syrup tin and the quote from the Bible story “Out of the strong came forth sweetness” as a key to what real strength means from a Christian perspectiveOther Bible quotes to use might be:‘I will give you strength to continue your journey’ Genesis 18:5‘I can do everything through him who gives us strength’ Philippians‘The Lord is my strength and shield’ We thought the children

could write about their strengths and put them on a dumbell. They could also use post-its to write about how they could use their strengths to help others

Hope – primary example

Who or what do you put your hopes in?Jeremiah 29:11For I know the plans I have for you

declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future

Window: share + display the Bible story of Noah’s Ark

Hope .... continued

Mirror: What is hope? How important is it to you? What do you hope for and why? How do we put our hope in God? What are your hopes for the future? Have any of your hopes been achieved?

(use of ipad as a mirror, for slideshows, email thoughts to, podcast, voice memo)

Door: Look at the lives of great Christian characters – now and in the past. How did they demonstrate hope?

Children can write ideas on post its with gel pens and leave for others to read

Promises to the children

Christian Valuesat the heart

of an effective church school

www.artistrising.com

Hope Everlasting

Making Amends

Forgiveness

So Where do we Start?• Audit where the values are working already and discuss

the difference they are making

• Set up a values pyramid for the children, staff, parents etc.

• Decide on your core values

• Make sure that everyone understands their significance within the Christian faith

• Launch your values with a ‘big occasion’

Photostory

www.christianvalues4schools.org

Resources /Downloads

• Theological Backgrounds

• Values Questions

Ethos Super Learning Day

EvaluationPresentation to Staff/Governors

ByEthos Group

The aim of the day was to evaluate how our core Christian values impact on our everyday school life and in lessons.

Mrs Pilling gave us the challenge of planning our own lessons. We were teachers for the day!We had to write a lesson plan, including a WALT and a WILF.We had to list and gather all the resources we needed.We had to think carefully what we wanted the children to do and how to record their views and comments about our values.

We delivered lessons throughout the day to different classes.After each lesson we changed our planning to improve each lesson.The children carried out the activities and recorded their views and thoughts on post it notes.We studies the responses on the post it notes to evaluate the impact of our values.

We were able to make some judgments about our values:-* Our values are used all the time in school in the playground, at lunchtime and in lesson time. Here are a few examples, “when I felt unhappy because my brother took my toys off me, my friend listened to me and made me feel better.” “I think all the assemblies we have had on friendship helps people to be better friends.” “The teachers talk about friendship and sharing and forgiveness”We also found out that what we do in worship has helped children in their daily lives.“In worship we looked at hope and how God can help us, that really helped me when my mum was poorly”

We were really encouraged that the work we plan in ethos really makes an impact to the children in our school.We also asked the children during super learning day about improvements to ethos and the work we carry out looking at values.We decided on 3 areas to improve/ work on1. Look at reflection spaces closely to make sure teachers and staff

are using them as much as they can.2. Children said the super learning day was a good idea to have

another day next year.3. Develop a book so Ethos group can ask children questions about

our values each week.

Thank you for listening to

our presentation.

Questions

Worship

Two report paragraphs on worship

A structure for worship

• Gathering

• Engaging

• Responding

• Sending

What is the impact of worship on the school community – emerging issues

• Distinctively Christian

• Focus on prayer

• The Trinity??? - handout

• Planning and evaluation - handouts

What have we done?

Where’s the

evidence?

Self-Evaluation

What’s been the result?

Principles for writing your SEF

1. Keep it simple

2. Keep a firm focus on impact

3. Use the headings from ‘Aspects’

4. Remember the areas to improve from the last inspection

5. Keep the focus on the difference you are making as a church school.

Sample SEF for Worship

• Evidence List

• Parents Questionnaire

• Pupil Conferencing

SELF-EVALUATION

Religious Education

VA – VC – what’s the difference

Working with a report paragraph

LEADERSHIP

• Is there a clear Christian vision/mission for the school as a church school?

• Does everyone know what it is?

• Are there effective ways of evaluating the impact of the Christian character of the school?

• Are there effective strategies for improvement?

QUESTIONS FOR LEADERS

WORKING WITH YOUR GOVERNORS

Handouts

Reporting on academic achievement

Read All About It

School Governors Sacked

School Praised in Church Inspection

The overall effectiveness of Uppity Fen VA School is inadequate

The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is outstanding at meeting the needs of all learners

Can it be true?

Members of the governing body have not held school leaders to account for the lack of progress of some pupils or for the absence of improvements since the previous inspection.

Governors are well informed, supportive and challenging

Possible report statements

• The Christian ethos and the underlying values within xxx school promotes an exceptional level of pastoral care which enables pupils to make good progress and achieve academic standards that are above expected levels.

• The school’s core values, particularly Hope and Trust permeate all aspects of school life and are the foundation of the undoubted success in raising both standards and progress, which are now broadly in line with national averages.

Key IssuesTo

Explore

QUESTIONS?