A group of children, staff and Governors worked together to develop the vision by which we can all live at St Mary’s. Taking inspiration from the fact that the famous fifth Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne (1732 –1811), is buried at St Mary’s Church, we felt our ethos could build on an astronomical analogy.

This was supported by verses from Daniel 12:3, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens," and Genesis 26:4, "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky ...and all the nations of the earth will be blessed." 

These verses underpin our ethos that everyone in our school community is able to ‘shine brightly’ in all aspects of life, at school and beyond:

 ‘Faith in Everyone to Shine Brightly’ 

We feel this phrase encompasses our strong belief that everyone at St Mary’s has the capacity to shine brightly in all they do. All St Mary’s children are stars who can shine through their talents, attitude and efforts. 

We use our ‘shining brightly’ ethos and the ‘stars and space’ analogy across the school to inspire everyone.

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SCHOOL PRAYER

Dear God,

Brighten us with your grace and love.

Help us to make the most of our opportunities.

Bring peace and joy to those near and far,

And teach us to shine brightly.

Amen

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BRITISH VALUES   
 

We have British Values flowing through our school, in the curriculum, behaviour policies and worship themes. Primarily these teach and reflect the values of:

• democracy
• the rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

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Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development

Children's Social, Moral, Social and Cultural development flows through everything we do at St Mary's. We aim to provides pupils with opportunities to explore and develop:

• their own values and beliefs, religious or otherwise, whilst showing respect for different people’s faiths, beliefs, feelings and values;
  
  
• their own spiritual awareness, developing their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
  
  
• to have a positive, caring attitude towards other people and to understand how they can contribute to their school and the wider community;
  
  
• an appreciation of their social and cultural traditions and the diversity and richness of other cultures;
  
  
• to be responsible for their own high standard of behaviour and understanding the consequences of their behaviour and actions and the difference between right and wrong. 

Our worship themes underpin our SMSC work and you can find out more about them here.

Another key area is our approach to Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) which you can read about here.

St Mary's sensitive approach to behaviour issues also builds on our SMSC philosophy. You can read about 'good behaviour' here.