Vision Statement: “To create and nurture a secure and caring Christian environment where every child can develop in their own faith and learning journey.”

School Vision: Work Together, Aim High, Shine Bright

"Go, shine in the world and live as Jesus lived." (Matthew 5: 14-16)

Our vision at Stretton St Matthew’s enables all to flourish and share that light with others. In our school, we “live as Jesus lived” through His example and the parables He told. From these examples and stories, we gain our distinctively Christian whole school values and help others to see a better way of living. Jesus worked together with his disciples who established his Church which led to partnerships in the Bible. Jesus was counter cultural and strong in his convictions; he is an example to leaders and children in terms of what they take on, or not, as we aim high in all that we do. “Go shine in the world” talks to us about how we strive to share with others the work of God, just as Jesus’ example informs how we shine bright and how our example inspires others to flourish. Our whole school values equip pupils and adults to achieve our vision and help to guide and sustain us on our journey to help shape and develop the Christian character of Stretton St Matthew’s. There are opportunities to Work Together, Aim High, Shine Bright embedded across our curriculum offer and extra-curricular opportunities in which every child can develop in their own faith and learning journey. Children have a clear understanding of the vision and values of the school and are able to confidently discuss ways in which they can uphold the school’s values.

The process of developing our vision involved working collaboratively with all stakeholders (children, staff, governors, parents and ethos group). Our vision upholds a holistic purpose to shape the spiritual development of all and enables us to look beyond our school context, uniting our community with a tangible sense of togetherness.

We aim to create a Christian ethos which supports all our children to work together, aim high, shine bright and to celebrate all of their achievements. Our vision and values are at the core of everything that we do. They underpin our teaching and learning, and provide an environment which prepares our pupils to be confident, happy citizens. Our vision aligns with the trust vision to ensure all pupils experience ‘life in all its fullness’ through outstanding learning opportunities. We want our pupils to ‘shine in the world and live as Jesus lived’ by becoming full and rounded individuals with opportunities to develop and pursue ambitions. Our school environment and the behaviour of the pupils demonstrates the way our vision is woven through every aspect of school life at St Matthew’s, as does the way the children always strive to ‘aim high’ and be the best version of themselves.

We work in partnership with Stretton St Matthew’s Church. We have a close relationship with the Church and Rev Alan Jewell delivers weekly collective worship to the whole school and offers support to SLT with the development of the collective worship programme.  We visit Church regularly e.g. back to school services, Year 6 leaver’s services and significant events in the Christian calendar such as Christingle and Remembrance Day.  

Rev Alan Jewell is an active governor for school. He offers a supporting role within the governing body and assists in making decisions about school and the community.  They also support the school and staff with Christian aspects of the Religious Education curriculum. Members of church community have visited school to work with different classes. 

Vulnerable children are offered support through Quality First Teaching, parent information workshops, numerous interventions and small group sessions, pastoral support and counselling offered by our Pastoral and Welfare Manager as well as by other staff members. At St Matthew's, we are proud to be an Inclusive School. Through regular monitoring of the provision we offer, we are able to provide a secure, caring and happy environment in which all pupils can succeed underpinned by our theologically rooted Christian vision ensuring all children shine guided by Jesus and their faith.

On 1^st September 2023, Stretton St Matthew’s became an academy and joined Chester Diocesan Academies Trust (CDAT). As a Church school, we embrace any opportunity to strengthen our excellent links with the Diocese of Chester, which we feel we will do as an academy within the Trust. The Diocese already work closely with our school and have provided high-quality support in areas such as governance, school improvement etc... Becoming an academy now gives us increased access to this support from a partner that we know and for whom we share a common Christian ethos. Strengthening our partnerships with other CDAT schools has clear benefits for Stretton St Matthew’s and the additional support available through the Trust model is a significant advantage of becoming an academy.

As a trust, CDAT has a distinctive ethos that is clearly rooted in Christian values and aims to ensure that all pupils are able to benefit from and enjoy ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10), a vision which is closely aligned with our own. Our future as part of CDAT allows us to work together in a strong family of Church schools with a shared common goal, in seeking to provide the very best education for every child. One that enables all children to experience the ‘abundant life that Jesus offers’. We are excited for the new and enriching opportunities that this collaboration will provide, whilst retaining all that is special and unique about our wonderful school.

CDAT schools benefit from sharing their experiences and learning from these. CDAT provides challenge and support both from within the CDAT family and from their partnerships with Chester Diocese, other academy trusts and educational experts.

Chester Diocesan Academy Trust is focused on delivering the Church of England Vision for Education in its church schools, and ensuring that all pupils are able to achieve the best possible outcomes. All the school governors are committed to maintaining the ethos and the high standards of achievement at the school. They are focused not only on educational achievement but on the school's other values, which are just as important. Every decision that is taken in school is based on our vision – children are at the centre of everything.

Our school’s Christian Vision is rooted in theology and was created with all stakeholders involvement and reflects the school community as a whole. Governors and the school leadership team work together closely and express a shared vision, which ensures a sense of purpose and clarity of direction. The work of the school is monitored by the Governing Board in their role as a critical friend and supported by the incumbent and foundation governors in their pastoral capacity. An RE Link Governor is appointed to focus on supporting the school with their Christian ethos and values based education. Governors are fully aware as to the school’s direction and are well informed about the school’s priorities and support school in fulfilling these visions.  Our school development plan focuses on the Christian distinctiveness of the school and identifies key priorities with areas for development to ensure that as a school, we evaluate our effectiveness through a robust and continuous self-evaluation process.

Worship is central to the life of our school. We celebrate worship as a whole school, in key stages or in our classes. Worship at St Matthew's is led by Rev Alan, our teachers and Ethos Group. We ensure that all children are encouraged to respond and reflect to enable them to internalise key messages from the Bible. Worship is intended to be accessible for everyone, for the teachers and for the children alike. We aim to bond our school family and make our worship the most important time of the day.

As a Church of England school, we work closely with our church. Our relationship with St Matthew's church is very important to us and we are proud to belong to the family of the church here in Stretton. 

We believe that worship at St. Matthew's is a central feature of the life of the school, bringing the school community together on a daily basis. Through enabling our children to celebrate shared values, to reflect upon the fundamental questions of life and to foster a commitment towards one another and towards God. It is intended that collective worship should act as an integrating and enriching element within the whole curriculum, the life of the school and beyond to the surrounding community.

Our Acts of Worship contain elements of the following:

• Consideration of, and response to, the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.
• Knowledge and appreciation of the Bible.
• Praise and prayer to God.
• Exploration of the symbolism within the Christian faith and the Anglican tradition.
• Respect and tolerance for people of all faiths, races and cultures.
• Promotion of fundamental British Values.
• Participation in hymns and songs.
• Invitations to participate and observe.
• Recognition of, and response to, the spiritual dimension of human experience.
• Ritual and ceremony, stillness and reflection.

Religious Education Curriculum Intent: Through God's love and guidance, to enable every child to flourish and to ‘live life in all its fullness', rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ that enables learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith.

Our teaching of Religious Education enables every child to flourish and to 'live life in all its fullness' (John 10:10). It aims to help educate for dignity and respect, enabling all to live well together. RE is a highly valued academic subject that enables understanding of how religion and beliefs affect our lives. We provide a RE curriculum that is rich and varied and studies a range of world religions and worldviews. At the heart of RE at St Matthew's, is the teaching of Christianity, rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ that enables learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith. Children are always incredibly respectful of other people’s views and opinions and can apply and link other religions as either similarities or differences to Christianity.

Our curriculum follows the Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education RE Syllabus for Church Schools – Questful RE. Questful RE also incorporates a programme of study called Understanding Christianity. Understanding Christianity bases Christianity within a framework called "God’s Big Story," which develops an understanding of the Old Testament and the New Testament and supports children to sequence the timeline of the Bible. The lesson plans promote theological, sociological and philosophical sciences.  As a result, children are engaged and inspired and teaching and learning in R.E. is highly effective

As a Church of England Voluntary Aided School, we offer an education that is distinctively Christian. Although each church school is unique, all church schools will share core values based on the Gospel values. Church schools are places where loving God and loving our neighbours, is lived out in the daily life of the school. At St Matthew's we aim to serve our community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice. We encourage an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and promote our Christian values through the experiences we offer to all of our pupils.

Our School is founded upon core values of respect, joy, friendship, perseverance, wisdom and thankfulness and time is spent exploring what is distinctively Christian about these particular values. Many other values are explicitly taught throughout the school day such as courage, gratitude and compassion. We strive for excellent relationships making our school a happy place to work and learn.