As a Church of England High School in the Blackburn Diocese, our Christian ethos and vision permeates all aspects of school life. "The school's Christian vision results in imaginative and innovative curricular and pastoral practice which has a transformational impact on the lives of pupils and adults." SIAMS Report 2019. All aspects of our provision are underpinned by our Vision and is reaffirmed by the School Motto of “Faith, Nurture, Service”. An on-going priority in our School Improvement Plan is to further enhance our Christian Distinctiveness.

The School Vision

Faith

The Christian faith forms the cornerstone of everything that we do here at Archbishop Temple.  Decisions are made based on our Christian principles which recognise the value of all members in our community, irrespective of their faith.  We believe that ‘God created mankind in his own image’ (Genesis 1:27) and as such strive to fully develop all our pupils and staff in order for them to let their light shine.  Our faith in God enables us to realise that ‘all things are possible’ (Mark 10:27) and so we believe that we should never give up on ourselves or each other. 

Our faith is expressed and developed through regular prayer.  We punctuate the days and seasons with opportunities for collective worship recognising that, ‘The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.’  (Psalm 145)

God’s light shines most brightly through grace.  This message underpins all our Christian teaching showing that Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12) died and rose to freely give salvation to anyone who turns to him (John 3:16).

Nurture

We strive to nurture each person’s God given talents and gifts encouraging everyone to ‘have life and have it to the full’ (John 10:10) on this earth and in eternity.  We are passionate about recognising the importance of all members of our community and understand that by working together and supporting each other we are able to make an impact for the good: ‘And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds… encouraging one another.’  (Hebrews 10:24). 

Nurturing each other means that there will be opportunities to be part of celebrating great achievements for our pupils; it will also mean that there will be more difficult times when members of our community will need supporting (Romans 12:15).  We will remember that all members of our community are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and that, ‘above all, [we should] love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins.’  (1 Peter 4:8-11). 

Service

As a community we recognise the importance of serving others, both those within our school, within our local community and the wider world.  We believe that ‘whoever wants to be great must become a servant’ (Mark 10:43), and this transforms lives for the better.  We recognise that serving others is an opportunity to put our faith into action: ‘Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead’ (James 2:17) and through good deeds we have the opportunity to glorify God.    

Throughout school pupils will get a variety of opportunities to serve; for example, through supporting charity events and through taking on roles of responsibility.  Pupils will be encouraged to think about the different ways in which they can carry out good deeds and become independent in the ways that they do this: ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.’  (1 Peter 4:10)

 

A caring Pastoral system with year group tutor groups based on Christian values enables pupils of all faiths to feel valued and respected. Our Christian ethos highly values all aspects of pupil achievement and pupils are supported to fulfil their God given potential. All subjects make a positive contribution to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all pupils. The range of charitable activities undertaken by our school community is due to our Christian ethos with over £10,000 being raised for various charities.

A key feature of our Christian vision is the work of our School Chaplain who is responsible for coordinating all daily worship activities and is available each day to listen and give support to all members of the school community. Pupils in our school are undertaking the Archbishop of York Youth Trust Young Leaders' Award as a way of giving something back to our community.

Pupils from Archbishop Temple School talk about the Archbishop of York Youth Trust Young Leaders' Award.