Christian Community
Our Vision
Hand in hand at Oulton, we strive to follow Jesus’ example offering friendship and forgiveness through a trusting and welcoming community where all are loved and valued as children of God. We are thankful for the exciting and vibrant curriculum which enables everyone to flourish and achieve their God given potential. (Inspired by the Bible story The Good Samaritan.)
Our School Christian Values
We are a Church of England school whose school vision encapsulates our Christian Values. We strive to encourage the children to live out and model our core Christian Values everyday within the school community and understand how God can support us so we can develop and maintain a strong moral Christian approach to life.
- Friendship
- Forgiveness
- Trust
- Thankfulness
- Koinonia (Community)
Collective Worship
Collective worship is at the very heart of our school. We love to worship together and different worship times are led by adults and children in our school community.
The Open the Book Team introduces a bible story on Mondays and worships throughout the rest of the week focus on follow up activities and reflection, linking these to our core Christian values.
Each term we focus on one Christian Value, and reflect on this during Collective Worship/Celebration Worship on Fridays using the Roots and Fruits Worship programme. We teach the children these core Christian Values using an imaginative and engaging approach which include quotes, questions, photographs, stories, poems and prayers.
Collective Worship Plan 2024-2025
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We encourage our families to continue to consider values at home and provide home value activity sheets to support this.
homeschoolvalues-thankfulness.pdf.
homeschoolvalues-perseverance.pdf.
homeschoolvalues-generosity.pdf.
homeschoolvalues-forgiveness.pdf.
homeschoolvalues-friendship.pdf.
homeschoolvalues-compassion.pdf.
homeschoolvalues-truthfulness.pdf.
Family Worship
Each half term we invite parents to our family worship where they can help us celebrate their child's achievements. This includes achievements in school as well as extra-curricular achievements outside of school. This is always well attended and a special occasion for our pupils.
Parent Voice:
I always love to see a showcase of the children's work along with the celebration certificates and singing. Behaviour from the children is always excellent and they are all encouraged to share and be confident speaking infront of an audience. Children at worship are always reminded of the collective school values and to be encouraged to celebrate other children's achievements. It is genuinely a lovely community event where everyone feels a part of it. Anonymous
The obvious enthusiasm of the pupils. Your approach - warm and empathetic. Anonymous
Prayer Areas
Each class has a worship area which is interactive, informative and a place for the children to think, reflect and pray. The areas are developed and changed throughout the year according to the current focus and can include pictures, prayers, quotes, objects and pupil thoughts. Resources from it are used for the weekly class worship which include candles, crosses and a variety of Bibles and prayer books.
There is also a prayer area in our entrance and outside in our sensory garden which provide opportunities for reflection.
St John the Evangelist Church and Open the Book
Oulton First School is linked to St John the Evangelist Church, Oulton. We visit the church on a regular basis with a service at least once per term which include, Harvest, Christmas and Easter. We invite parents and carers to join us in these celebrations where our pupils enjoy sharing their learning.
We also visit the church in connection with RE themes which allows the children the opportunity to explore different areas of the church and become familiar with new vocabulary. We are grateful for the input during the school year from church members and clergy.
As well as taking part in the regular church services, Reverend Kingman and Peter Cuthbert (Children and Families Worker) visit school on a weekly basis where they lead worship. They are joined by volunteers from the church who retell key Bible stories using Open the Book.
When children enter our school in Reception they are presented with a children's picture bible by Rev KIngman in our first family worship.
In Year 4 when pupils are getting ready to transition to the next stage to their education, they are presented with another bible in our Leavers' Assembly by Rev KIngman.
Courageous Advocacy
Courageous advocates are changemakers who champion a cause which is special and meaningful to them, often acting as a voice for justice.
At Oulton First School we have a clear focus on providing our children with opportunities to become courageous advocates, not just locally, but nationally and internationally.
Each class learns about key international, national and local courageous advocates, for example David Attenborough, Florence Nightingale and Martin Luther King.
We will all face challenges in our lives and need the support of others to overcome these barriers. At our school we teach our children the importance of helping others when we can no matter who they are, where they come from or what challenges they may face. Through our vision, underpinned by the parable of ‘The Good Samaritan', children are encouraged to live out the sense of joy that can be found when others are helped and treated with dignity.
We support a range of charities in our local area, nationally and globally.
• Stone food bank
• Sports Relief
• Comic Relief
• Aid for Ukraine
• Children in Need
Children in Class 3 acted as courageous advocates themselves when they suggested, planned and organised a cake sale to raise money for charity. They raised an incredible £140.00 which went to the charities of their choice, the Teenage Cancer Trust and the RSPCA.
Our School Choir in the Local Community
We have a very active school choir who meet on a weekly basis and sing in the local community throughout the year to organisations such as the Alzheimer Society and Oulton Abbey care home. They regularly raise funds for St. John's Church with a concert where members sing alongside the C-K Community Choir. Not only is singing good for mental health, it also gives our pupils a sense of belonging in the local community and develops empathy with different groups.
Trekkers Club
Peter Cuthbert (children and families worker), alongside two of our foundation govenors, host a weekly club held every Thursday, 3.30 – 4.30pm at school. This club is for pupils in Years 1-4 and includes interactive Bible stories, craft activities, games and a snack. Registration forms are available from the school office.
Pupil Voice:
I enjoy learning more about God and what his life was like. My favourite thing is the bible stories. I like Noah's Ark because it's caring towards animals and we have to treat them well. Eden - Y2
My favourite things to do at Trekkers is learn about God. I know he was kind and wanted to help other people. I am kind and helpful to my mum. Lily - Y2
At Trekkers, you learn about Jesus and watch stories about Jesus and do crafts and it is so fun! We play games like the 'giant key' and 'will you rather', the games are so fun! Jesus is our Saviour!
I like watching videos about bible stories and then the questions. I also like crafting; we make things from the bible. Jesus was kind and he wants us to forgive and forget. When you've done something wrong you pray and you say sorry to the person. Jenson - Y1
Harvest Service and Stone Community Hub Food Bank
Throughout each year, (especially at Harvest) pupils and their families donate produce for our local food bank. The Stone Community Hub receive their donations and, as a result, have fully stocked shelves for the many local people who use the service.
This year, our school councillors visited the foodback with all the donations collected.
The Gambia Project
We welcomed Mr Alex Yendole to school to talk to our pupils about The Gambia Project- a partnership between communities in Stone and Pirang in The Gambia. He explained that children in the village were often prevented from being able to go to school because of the cost of education and that many families were forced to choose between feeding or educating their children. He showed us photographs of the school and health centre and of some of his Gambian friends who he works with. Pupils and their families kindly donated books, pens and other eductional resources to the school and nursery.
Remembrance Week
Each year we hold a Remembrance Service at School so pupils understand how and why we remember. The topic is explored further in classes through texts, poems and arts/crafts. Class 3 decided to make and sell poppies for the Poppy Appeal this year and raised over £34. They also took part in a Remembrance Day Reflection event run by Staffordshire Youthnet. They enaged in lots of activties to hlep them reflect on some of the consequences of war, reconciliation, prayer, forgiveness and helping others. Class 2 also made poppy wreaths which they laid next to the war memorial at St. John's Church.
Christmas
Classes retell their own version of the Christmas Story each year in the form of a play which is watched by pupils and parents. Pupils enjoy role playing the story which involves drama and singing as well as enablling them to develop their knowledge and understanding .
Forest School
We are fortunate to be able to offer Forest School both in our wonderful grounds and in nearby Kibblestone International Scout Camp. Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of all involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners. It also offers our pupils the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves in God's wonderful world.
Derby Faith Trail
In October, Class 3 took part in the Derby Faith Trail which enabled them them the opportunity to explore different faiths.Pupils enjoyed visiting a Hindu temple, a Mosque and a Gurdwara. A highlight of the visit was taking part in a Langar meal, and also watching the different types of prayer taking place.
RE Drop Down Day
The whole school enjoyed an RE Dropdown Day in June. The focus was on Christianity: Explore, Engage Reflect, provided by Staffordshire Youthnet and Explore Islam, provided by HIfsa Haroon-Iqbal OBE.
Through hands-on workshops, covering such areas as worship, clothing, journeys, prayer and sacred texts,the children learned answers to the questions "What is faith and what difference does it make?" in KS1 and "What is faith in action?" in KS2. In EYFS, children learned faith stories from both faiths. St John's Church was opened to KS1 children to learn more about the story of Daniel and how it relates to Christians' lives today.
