Christian Distinctiveness

We are proud to be a Church of England primary school.

Like Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the mustard seed, we believe that children at Platt Primary are like seeds with the potential to grow and flourish as they are nurtured and encouraged to develop their unique gifts.  We are a family where we care for others and the world around us, we learn as a community and grow in wisdom and we forgive as God forgave us.  

We model and uphold the Christian values of Care, Learn and Forgive, which we feel, help guide our pupils and community to improve the world in which we live.

Our guiding statement 'Live life in all its fullness' John 10:10, has been chosen to ensure that we help all children leave us with the skills they need to live their life to the full. Our curriculum and opportunities are also designed around this principle, ensuring a variety of tasks and content.

At Platt Church of England Primary School we ensure that:

• We follow the Rochester Diocesan RE overview which incorporates Understanding Christianity
• There is also a focus on all six of the major world faiths which are linked together using ‘Golden’ Threads’
• All pupils receive their full entitlement for RE as laid down in the Church of England Statement of Entitlement for RE
• https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/RE%20Statement%20of%20Entitlement%20for%20Church%20Schools.pdf

Collective Worship

Each day we meet collectively for a worship. This can be whole school, in classrooms or with our partner year groups. The children are brought together to learn about stories from the bible and how these can be used to help live our lives. The children are invited to join collective prayers and our older children are encouraged to lead prayer and elements of worship.

We have shared words which the adults and children use each day:

The worship leader reads : The Lord is with us

All return : Let us praise his name together

The worship leader reads : Show us your paths, O Lord

All return: And teach us your ways

 We also have a closing prayer each day. This helps the children leave worship feeling ready to use our values to do our best that day.

Collective Worship is an opportunity for us to come together as one and share in our achievements and reflect both together and as individuals.

Mondays: whole school worship led by senior leaders

Tuesdays: whole school worship led by class teachers

Wednesdays: whole school singing led by class teachers

Thursdays: class worship led by teachers and children

Fridays: celebration worship led by the Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher

Spirituality

This is an area that is hard to define as it is more of a feeling we get during an experience or event in our lives.  It is often referred to as moments of ‘awe and wonder’ and these can be both positive such as seeing a musical theatre performance for the first time; or a negative event such as war in other countries.  We want to ensure that children have as many positive ‘awe and wonder’ moments during their time with us as possible and will endeavour to bring those experiences into school as well as seek opportunities for them through offsite visits.  It is important that children have moments that make them wonder, provoke thought and discussion and leave the with memories.

Recent experiences include:

• Bridge building
• Science Boffins workshops
• Trips to Lullingstone Roman Villa and Young Voices at the O2
• Tiger Troop
• Coming together to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the King’s Coronation and sharing our grief during the time of the Queen’s passing
• Raising money for charities
• Eco Council planting trees

These experiences and events have given the children the opportunity to find out more and explore things they may not normally be interested in.  They provoke thinking, questions, discussions and give them joy and peace to feel both independently and as a community.

We visit our local church regularly and have our Vicar in school to lead worship. The children are asked to take part in worships and lead these throughout the year. An example of this is our Christmas and Easter services where we invite our whole school community.