St Luke’s as a Church school
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Spirituality is the awareness of our place within the world.
How we express ourselves through words and actions is how we express our spirit.
We can come to understand our spirituality through nature, relationships, prayer/meditation and faith.
St. Luke’s CE Primary School is proud to be a church school, It’s vision and values are firmly rooted in the Christian tradition. The links we have with St Luke’s Church and the Whitfield Parish enhance the education we offer the children.
We have a daily act of collective worship which is invitational. Members of our community are all given the opportunity to reflect and are invited to join in prayer but there is no compulsion to do so. All our community understand that their personal spiritual beliefs are respected and valued. Our collective worship is planned round our character education scheme of work and the church calendar. Links are made between character virtues, Christian teaching and children’s lives.
Our vision can be summed up as Opening Eyes, Hearts and Minds
Opening our eyes to possibilities, our hearts to all others and to spirituality and our minds to knowledge. Living the prayer of St Francis with forgiveness for past mistakes, joy in the present and hope for the future.
The Prayer of St Francis says:
Make me a channel of Your peace
Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love
Where there is injury, Your pardon Lord
And where there’s doubt, true faith in You
Make me a channel of Your peace
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there’s sadness, ever joy
Oh Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul
Make me a channel of Your peace
It is pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life
The school works with Whitfield Parish in many ways; We are invited to use the church building for our collective worship particularly for big festivals such as Christmas and Easter. Our children are invited to join the parish in worship a number of times a year such as Education Sunday and Christmas. The church hold a prayer group in school weekly. The support we offer each other benefits both the school and the church.
The church is represented on our Board of Governors ensuring the Christian Foundation of our school is upheld.
Our vision leads us to encourage the children to support charities and to be courageous advocates for change.
The charities we support are chosen by the children and staff because they fit with our vision and ethos. We are clear that we want to make a difference to the world in which we live and we all can.
In recent years the children have run campaigns about homelessness, single use plastics and dog fouling.
The charities we have supported include The Glossop Jog, Mummies Star, Reuben’s Retreat, Children in Need, Shelter, Comic Relief, Topsia school in Kolkata.
We believe the mental health of all the members of our community is important. Our collective acts of worship help support this mental health by helping everyone feel valued and respected. We help children learn to be resilient and able to manage difficult experiences and times with a belief in hope for the future. This whole school work is enhanced by our character education work in classes and the support we offer to individuals experiencing difficulties. This support might be through, the use of reflection spaces, individual sessions, nurture sessions, play therapy or something else deemed to be appropriate to that person.
Our children are thoughtful, questioning, self-disciplined young people who are proud of their school and believe they can make a difference to the world in which they live. We are very proud of them.