“YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD… LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE…”

Matthew 5:14-16

As a church school family, we seek to follow the example of Jesus in all that we do, whilst living out our core values of respect, resilience and compassion.  Our vision is rooted in scripture, found within the Gospel of Matthew.  During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses a crowd of people and talks about salt and light.  Jesus explains:

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:14-16

We believe that the Sermon on the Mount is a vital chapter in scripture, teaching us to let the light of Jesus shine through us.  We take great encouragement from the words “you are the light of the world”; this reveals to us that Jesus, who himself tells us “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), is within all of us.  We are all God’s children and are called to ‘give glory’ to our Father in heaven through our ‘good works’. This reminds us of the importance of our actions. Our actions, when carried out with respect, resilience and compassion, allow us to let our light shine and share the light of Jesus with those around us.

As a Church school we have a distinctive character where Christian values are promoted in all aspects of school life.  We encourage all members of the school community to promote a Christian ethos where compassion and respect is shown to everyone.  As a Church school, we are fortunate to have strong links with both our Parish Church (St Martin’s Church, Bradley) and Lichfield Diocese who support our school and take an active role in our children’s learning and development.  Our Christian values shine through in all we do at St Martin’s CE Primary and are the foundation of who we are.

We believe it is important to establish core values which help to develop our moral and spiritual awareness.  We continue to build upon these values as we make our journey through school.  As part of our daily Collective Worship, we explore our own core Christian values in more depth and make links to other Christian Values (such as patience, thankfulness, joy, faithfulness, humility and hope). Throughout the week we strive to show and develop each value and in our Friday celebration worship, children who have shown a particular value receive a certificate praising them for this.

We have chosen three core values to focus on and strengthen our daily lives in school. These values are: