Our vision is about celebrating the uniqueness of every individual, inspiring a life long love of learning and experiencing life in all its fullness. It is rooted in John 13:34:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
Our school will be a place where:
Everything we do here at St Stephen's is done in and through love with our ultimate desire to be a loving family of God’s children. Where we all have a sense of belonging, are able to live abundant lives and where we feel empowered to impact change in God’s world.
In John 13:34, Jesus sums up Christian teaching in a couple of short, simple sentences:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
At the end of the day, when all the lessons have been taught, when all the school values have been lived out, when all the worship songs have been sung, we are left with just one thing: love.
Whatever else St. Stephen’s CE Primary School is about – it must be a place of love: where people encounter the love of God for them, where people feel loved and accepted for who they are, without judgement, where people are free to express love for others and back to God.
Finally, when Jesus gave this commandment to love, it wasn’t at a random time in his ministry: the timing of this statement by Jesus was so important. Because Jesus gave this teaching to his disciples the night before he was crucified; it was his final teaching to them before he died, so he wasn’t going to waste time telling them stuff that isn’t important.
Instead, he is saying to them, “Before I die, this is what you really need to know: love one another…” It’s almost as if the three years of his ministry had been building up to this moment and he was saying to them, “In conclusion, this is what you need to remember…”
It’s all about love. To love in a way that Jesus taught us to love.
At St Stephen’s CE Primary School, we believe that a core set of distinctly Christian values add to the understanding, experiences and wellbeing of our learners – not just during their time in school but as they move on to become young adults and beyond. Our six Christian values are rooted in scripture and in the teachings of Jesus through Bible stories that our children can relate to and enjoy. Our values were established in the academic year of 2021-22 and after input and consideration from staff, parents and governors were voted on by our pupils, led by our school council. Our children believe that these 6 values are the ones that represent the way we want to live together and treat each other at our school.