Church school

Froxfield CE School as a Church School

Founded as a Church School

At Froxfield we are proud to be a Church of England primary school – that is how we were founded nearly 150 years ago, and being a church school is very much part of our DNA, impacting every aspect of life in our school community.

C of E church schools have always been for all children in the community which they serve – they are not exclusive, selective or doctrinaire. Their responsibility is to provide the best education possible for children of all faiths and none. Froxfield School’s founding Trust Deed puts it in these terms: the School must “serve its community by providing education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice”. The School must “encourage an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and promote Christian values through the experience it offers all its pupils”.

How as a Church School we build our school community – our Vision and Christian Values

Our Vision for our School expresses our aspiration to provide, in a manner appropriate to the 21st Century, an education for our children which fulfils those terms on which the School was founded. The basis of our ethos is our three chosen Christian Values of love, respect and courage. Our aim is that those Values should underpin all aspects of school life – the way the children are educated, how their potential is fulfilled, the behaviour of everyone in the school community, and the example and standards for life which are set. All the children in the School know these Values – they are foundations for living a rich, caring and purposeful life.

Our connection with the parish church

Our parish church is St Peter’s, High Cross, directly across the road from the School, and we value the close connection we have with the church, which appoints two of our Governors.

It is a particular feature of Froxfield School that the children are regular visitors each week to the parish church for their Collective Worship and special services through the year – and indeed, the church is the venue for our school plays and concerts. The vicar or a member of the church congregation will lead some of the Collective Worship and special services.

We have joint parish/school initiatives, including the Reverse Advent Calendar in support of the PACT Foodbank, and joint services (such as Mothering Sunday).

Collective Worship

School Collective Worship takes place daily and is based on Christian foundations and principles. Worship in our School is a special time for reflecting upon the common values of the School community, bringing the School together, and promoting a sense of belonging. It helps pupils develop a sense of spirituality in the world around them and beyond, and to reflect on themes and issues which relate to them.

Collective Worship also introduces children to features of Church of England worship (including traditional hymns and modern worship songs, and the cycle of seasons in the church year).

Once every half-term one of the classes will lead Collective Worship. In addition, the major festivals of Easter, Harvest and Christmas are celebrated with a church service led by the children. Parents and friends are welcomed to join in Collective Worship and special services held in the church.

Church School inspection

Every church school is inspected, every five years, by the Church of England education authorities to ensure that the school is fulfilling its education responsibilities as a church school. That inspection is rigorous and wide-ranging, taking in the ethos, leadership, pastoral care and spiritual well-being of the entire school community. We anticipate that our next C of E inspection will be in 2023/24. This church school inspection is, of course, in addition to the periodic OFSTED school inspection.

The exemplary behaviour and positive caring relationships in the school are firmly rooted in the school’s core Christian values

SIAMS report 2017