Christian Values
South Kilworth C of E Primary School encourages and promotes Christian Values. Our pupils, governors, staff, parents and community members chose our values:
Hope - Christian hope is grounded in the character of God. Often, in the Psalms, the writer says to God: ‘My hope is in you’. It is a hope rooted in the love and faithfulness of God. Hope is not wishful thinking but a firm assurance that God can be relied upon. It does not remove the need for ‘waiting upon the Lord’ but there is underlying confidence that God is a ‘strong rock’ and one whose promises can be trusted.
Thankfulness - Songs of thankfulness and praise are at the heart of Christian worship. Thankfulness is directed towards God who gives and sustains life. Seeing the world as God’s creation underpins the way we approach everything in life, seeing it as a gift and not as a right.
Trust - Trust is the very essence of faith; trust in the God who is trustworthy. ‘Trust in the Lord’ is a central theme in the Psalms. Time and time again, God is the acknowledged as the source of all true security and strength.
Trust is essential to human life and lies at the heart of all relationships. Trust entails vulnerability, putting yourself in others’ hands. We have to trust experts - pilots, dentists, surgeons.
Service - Serving God means serving others. It also means that we cannot serve other masters as well - such as money. However, the Christian message is equally clear that service is not all about restrictions. It is precisely in a life of service that we become most truly free.
Endurance - At its root, endurance is recognition that life is sometimes difficult and painful, and that it is important not to give up in the face of adversity. Endurance and perseverance are only possible where there is hope and that hope is based on the enduring nature of God’s love and faithfulness.
Community - Koinonia is often translated as ‘fellowship’ or ‘community’. Koinonia expresses the quality of relationship within the Christian community. It is based on fellowship with Jesus. They are all members of the same family. A central element of being a family is interdependence: all are needed and valued and each person is important to the whole. The same message is found in Paul’s image of the Christian community as the body of Christ. Each member of the body shares the joys and sufferings of the others and each depends upon every else.
Reverence - Reverence is the proper human response to what is holy and sacred. It is related to awe and respect. It is this profound respect that is expressed in the Biblical phrase ‘the fear of the Lord’. This is not fear in the sense of terror or abject grovelling but a reverent acknowledgement of God’s greatness and our complete dependence.