What does it mean to be a Church of England School?
Windmill CofE is a Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary school in the Diocese of Leeds. There are 240 schools in our diocese which extends from Barnsley in the south to north of Richmond. We have an active Diocesan Board of Education that has close links with our school. As part of this family we benefit from ongoing challenge and support from diocesan advisors and we have built strong links with other local CofE schools.
Our team of staff and governors are committed to the original foundation for Church of England schools to provide education for all. We provide education that is faithful to the Church of England and we value diversity and differences between each unique child in our care. We are fully inclusive to the wide socio-economic and religious and non-religious backgrounds of our pupils and we live our vision by supporting every child, irrespective of need, to realise their potential.
We believe that every member of our community should ‘do everything in love’ and we express this in our school values.
What does being a Church of England School mean to us?
- Having a school vision rooted in the bible that reflects the needs of our community and our hopes and aspirations for our school family. We make the most of each day to live this vision and use this to shape our policies.
- Being advocates of inclusivity, equality, tolerance respect and forgiveness
- Conducting a daily act of collective worship. These are intended to be inspiration, invitational and inclusive so that pupils of faith and no faith can participate and learn with integrity. This is the heartbeat of our school.
- Providing opportunity for prayer and reflection at points during the school day
- Having Christian symbols and prayer spaces in our school
- Following the rhythm of the Christian liturgical calendar but also sharing the celebrations of others in our community
- Showing respect to children of other faiths and to those with no faith
- Having close links with Brownhill St Saviour’s and the parish community.
- Learning about Christian values of respect, compassion, faith, courage, forgiveness and equality as ex[pressions of our vision
- Considering RE to be a core subject with 50% devoted to understanding the Christian faith and 50% to other World faiths including Islam, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Humanism
- RE is taught for 1 hour and 15 minutes each week.
- Encouraging children to think about big questions and engage with a spiritual journey.
- Working collaboratively with the diocese and other Church schools to develop our school
- Serving our community and making our school a beacon of hope, unity and love
- Prioritising relationships and connection
