All Church of England schools must have foundation governors. Their role is to secure the character of the school and preserve and develop our religious character. We currently have three foundation governors who work to support the school.

Please read or download our Church School Distinctiveness report here.

As a Church school we are closely aligned with the Church of England Vision for Education. At the heart of this vision is Jesus’ promise of 'life in all its fullness.’ It is a vision for the common good of the whole school community, one in which all may flourish. It involves:

Educating for wisdom, knowledge and skills: enabling discipline, confidence and delight in seeking wisdom and knowledge, and developing talents in all areas of life.

Educating for hope and aspiration: enabling healing, repair and renewal, coping wisely when things go wrong, opening horizons and guiding people into ways of fulfilling them.

Educating for community and living well together: a core focus on relationships, participation in communities and the qualities of character that enable people to flourish together.

Educating for dignity and respect: the basic principle of respect for the value and preciousness of each person, treating each person as a unique individual of inherent worth.

We are an inclusive school that welcomes all children.

Our vision

At Saltford C of E Primary School we believe anything is possible.
We know that children have the right to be provided with a creative, innovative and exciting education that will inspire them to become lifelong learners who are enthusiastic and proud of everything they do.
We want every child to excel in all aspects of their learning within an immersive, imaginative, expressive and inclusive environment.
We want children to become confident discoverers, explorers and creators who live our Christian values.
We keep children as the focus of everything we do.

Please see our vision and values statement here.

'Caring for our community' parables

Our vision is underpinned by the Christian theological theme of our school motto which is 'Caring for our community.' 

It follows faithfully the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37. Modelling ourselves both on the Samaritan and equally from the perspective of the robbed man, we will demonstrate that Christians have respect for those around us; forgiveness towards those who have wronged us; perseverance in the face of adversity; fairness in the way we treat others and joyfulness as we care for and are cared for by others.

The parable of the Good Shepherd, John 10, parallels the way in which the school guides and nurtures the children. This requires constant loyalty and commitment from the staff team who know the children well.

These parables from Jesus are both central to our vision for education.

Saltford Church of England Primary School has three core values of kindness, honesty and respect. Taken together with the British Values of Democracy, The Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance, they underpin and dovetail with our behaviour expectations and school ethos.

We welcome those of all faiths and none and hope that our vision and values will inspire the children to develop into adults who will be successful. confident individuals who enrich the lives of others.

Please see the links below for an insight into how we teach and live each of our values:

Kindness: Home-School values Compassion

Honesty: Home-School values Truthfulness

Respect: Home-School values Respect

All Futura schools had the opportunity to contribute to the creation of a common Futura prayer and song. Here they are:

Futura prayer

Loving Lord,

We thank you for bringing us together today; for the wisdom and guidance you have given us.

We are grateful for being able to work together, creating opportunities that help us find our spark and shine bright.

May you notice that we show kindness, respect and care to others in need.

Help us to chase our dreams, reach high and learn together,

Give us hope and self belief that we may live life in all its fullness, enabling us to flourish.

Amen.

Futura song

Life in all its fullness

How can we all reach the stars? Chasing all our dreams and goals.
Reach up high and fill your heart; Find yourself and you will grow.

Be the best that you can be; Take every opportunity.
Flowers bloom and rivers flow; Lord, show me the way to go.

Don’t give up,
Be yourself
Find your spark,
Shining bright,
Be the light
In a life in all its fullness.

Looking up, looking out, looking in
For a life in all its fullness.
Make a start, this is where we begin
For a life in all its fullness.
Looking in, looking out, looking up
For a life in all its fullness.
Reach the stars,
Live a life filled with love.
Oh a life in all its fullness!

We can all respect each other; Learning, bonding, all together.
When the road is long or lonely: Guide us home with empathy.

Don’t give up,
Be yourself
Find your spark,
Shining bright,
Be the light
In a life in all its fullness.

Looking up, looking out, looking in
For a life in all its fullness.
Make a start, this is where we begin
For a life in all its fullness.
Looking in, looking out, looking up
For a life in all its fullness.
Reach the stars,
Live a life filled with love.
Oh a life in all its fullness!

A sprinkle of hope and creativity; And that’s a recipe for life.
Now add self-belief and positivity: And that’s a recipe for life!

Oh life in all its fullness!
Oh life in all its fullness!

Looking up, looking out, looking in
For a life in all its fullness.
Make a start, this is where we begin
For a life in all its fullness.
Looking in, looking out, looking up
For a life in all its fullness.
Reach the stars,
Live a life filled with love.
Oh a life in all its fullness!

Read more about the Futura vision and values on the Futura Learning Partnership website here.

Spirituality overview

Please read our Spirituality Overview document here.

Spirituality policy

We believe that spirituality is a core thread that runs through our school and we attach great importance to it for both children’s development and for the growth and well-being of all within our school community. Please read more details in our Spirituality policy here. 

Daily worship follows a rhythm.

We are a community in which Christian values are upheld. As a Church of England School, acts of Collective Worship form the basis of our corporate experience and mark important times and occasions e.g. Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas and Easter. Stories from the Bible are often at the heart of our collective worship, also times for prayer and singing. We hope that all children will find these times to be stimulating, interactive and inclusive. Please see our full Collective Worship policy here.

At Saltford Church of England Primary School the children participate in a daily act of collective worship. Teaching staff and members of the school/church community lead services every day in the school hall. These usually follow the pattern:

Monday: Whole school service (where a theme is introduced) led by St Mary's Open the Book team or another representative of St Mary's Church

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday: Reception, Key Stages 1 and 2 each have a service led by Mrs Sage, a member of staff or 2 by 2 staff.

Friday: Whole school celebration service (where certificates, medals, etc... are awarded) led by Mrs Sage

We follow a series of themes throughout the term linked to our school values and bible stories etc.

Children play an important part in leading worship. They may be part of our WOW team which leads collective worship for the whole school on a Friday or they participate as a year group. Children also play an active part in the Open the Book team services.

By law, parents have the right to withdraw children from collective worship. in the first instance, parents wishing to request a withdrawal would meet with the head teacher to discuss their concerns and requirements. Details can be found in our Collective Worship Policy here.

Our school prayer is:

Dear God
We thank you for our school.
We thank you for all the teachers and staff who work here.
We thank you for all the children who come to learn.
We pray our school would be a place of great discovery, adventure and creativity.
May it be a place where we love to learn and learn to love.
A place where everyone is respected and valued.
Amen

Volunteers from St Mary’s Church lead ‘Prayer Workshops’ for our pupils. One of the activities asks the children what they would like to thank God for about their school and to pray for their school. Answers are collated and discussed by the school council. They found that one prayer simply wasn't enough and so please find the resulting collection of prayers for Saltford School here.

Saltford School is at the heart of the community and we are really grateful for the diverse contribution that many members of the community make towards the running of the school and the quality of the pupils' experience.

At Saltford School we are all advocates for the community. Courageous advocacy means standing up for what we care about and believe in. We encourage the children to live our school values outside of school and demonstrate wider application of these values in the community.

Care for creation is a common theme in our curriculum and collective worship. The issue of sustainability is woven through our curriculum and we take part annually in an Eco Summit of pupils and guest speakers from across our trust. Our climate and nature action plan contributes to local environment goals and our school houses are named after birds.

We are lucky to have a school garden designed by the children and which we are able to enjoy in a variety of ways.

We are working towards developing this garden to include aspects of a Psalm 23 garden, to encourage spirituality and to reflect our links with the Chuch. Members of the Church community are actively engaged in this project.

A Psalm 23 garden features a tree, some water, a bench and a wild flower meadow which all bring to life the words of 'The Lord is My Shepherd' for the children.

We are at the beginning of an international partnership that links our school with a school in India called Gokuldham Nar School which is already working with the Futura Learning Partnership.

When one of the Futura Executive Leadership Team visited the school recently, we sent with her some introductions to our school from some of our Year 4 children and a Saltford Calendar to give a flavour of our local area. We will share information about our two schools in many different ways, such as through joint projects and shared assemblies. We are looking forward to many years of collaboration ahead.

We are proud of our close links with St Mary's Church. Together we serve our community and form an important part of village life. 

See more about our wider community and our links with St Mary's on our website's Community page here: www.saltfordschool.org.uk/our-community/#st-marys-church.