Ethos Statement
The Ethos of Eltham Church of England Primary School, including our times of Collective Worship
Eltham Church of England School seeks to serve its community in the name of the Church by ensuring excellent education in a Christian setting.
Our 21st century school is a stimulating learning environment that prepares students for living and being an active member of their community. We encourage them to value the rich diversity of cultures they will encounter, and pupils are empowered to achieve their highest possible in academic, creative and sporting achievement both as members of a community and as individuals. The school provides pupils and staff with many opportunities to explore the significance of Christian faith and values to their own lives and the issues facing people locally, nationally and globally. The school is committed to ensuring that the learning, social, and personal needs of all its students are met by its curriculum and extra-curricular activities.
The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the students is set in the context of Christian faith as taught and lived in the Church of England.
The school’s distinctive ethos and approach are offered to all members of the school community. Christian students find their faith affirmed and valued, and they meet and work with people who hold to other faiths and philosophies, including those of ‘no faith’. All students encounter, in the lives of Christians in the school and in the school’s ethos, a living Christian witness which welcomes and affirms. All members of the school’s community are equally valued and are encouraged to contribute their understandings and abilities to the school’s work and ethos. The beliefs of those from other religious traditions are treated with respect and openness.
Collective Worship
We recognise that God is at the heart of the school, and so collective worship has a high priority in the school’s daily life. Collective worship is wholly Christian and parents may withdraw their children on religious grounds. Our times of Collective Worship are of high quality and planned to engage all members of the school’s community. The school is a place in which children and staff are cared for and where they learn to care for one other.
Eltham Church of England School seeks to achieve its aims and develop its life and ethos through answering God’s call to “Act Justly, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly with your God”.
Prayer
At our school we believe that prayer is an important part of being
 a Christian.
Prayer is a central feature of life at Eltham Church of England Primary School because we believe that it not only provides a way of behaving which is kind and loving, but rooted in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour of all. This understanding runs through everything we do: the way adults relate to each other and with children, and the way we encourage children to behave towards everyone.
Prayer is a way of both speaking to God and listening to Him. We speak to him when we say prayers, and these might be prayers of thanks, prayers when we ask Him for something, when we pray for someone else, or say sorry for what we have done wrong. We listen to God by reflecting on what we have seen and heard, and by hearing in our prayers what we should be asking for, or thanking Him for. Jesus told us: “WHEN you pray…” and so prayer is encouraged throughout the day; in class, in the playground, and in times of collective worship.
What we do
At our school, we share a common prayer before lunch and at the end of the day.
At lunchtime:
For what we are about to receive,
May the Lord make us truly thankful.
Amen.
At the end of the day:
Lord, keep us safe this night,
Secure from all our fears.
May angels guard us while we sleep,
‘Til morning light appears.
Amen.
In times of collective worship, we are reminded of the prayer that Jesus taught us to say:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
We will also share the Grace through praying:
The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
We also light a candle as part of our assembly: we do this because a candle is a symbol of Jesus, the light of the world, and because the candle carries on burning, carrying on our prayer, even when we are not speaking. It is also a visible sign that worship has begun.
At the end of our assembly, we blow out the candle to bring that act of worship to a close.