"The values of love, respect, community, perseverance, forgiveness, and truth are widely taught through the curriculum. Pupils know the values off by heart and live them out in their kindness towards each other as they learn and play together."

OFSTED Report September 2023 

Our Christian Vision

Flourishing in Body, Mind and Spirit

Our vision is for Lee Common CE School to be the first choice, first-school for our local community and beyond as we support and challenge our children to flourish.

Just as we nurture seeds and help them grow into strong trees, so we want to nurture our children, helping them to grow strong in body, mind and spirit. 

Our vision and mission statement are rooted in the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13. Just as those seeds grew into a tree with branches strong enough to support the birds, so we want our children to grow into strong citizens of the future, able to support others in the world around them. 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32) 

Our Christian Values

We are a Church of England School and we strive for all members of our school community to live, work and learn in accordance with our Christian Values:

Love

Respect

Community

Perseverance

Forgiveness

Truth

We actively teach these values to our children, through our curriculum, our assemblies and our day-to-day interactions with the children, in the classrooms, the playground and beyond the school gates. We encourage our children always to reflect these values in their own behaviour and choices and we model this for them also.

We reward and celebrate children when we see our values in action. They underpin everything that we do in and out of school. 

Spirituality

At Lee Common we focus on spiritual development to:

• Support the mental health of all within the school
• Develop curiosity and questioning 
• Help us reflect
• Think about other people and places
• Help us wonder 

Spirituality helps us to retain a connection with the world, develop an ability to wait and be still and develop the non-physical part of ourselves. In order to help our children embed an understanding of spirituality, here at Lee Common, we use the language of “Ows Wows and Nows”

“Ows” – Difficult moments.

These might include struggles mastering a skill or times when we may not have made our best choices. During these periods of struggle, perhaps we may need to draw on our values of perseverance or ask for forgiveness from others or tell the truth about a situation. If we are of a religious belief, it may be a time we wish to ask God for help.

“Wows” – Awe and Wonder moments / times of appreciation or feeling proud

Awe and wonder can be different for all of us. We want our children to notice and appreciate when these moments arise for them. It could be noticing the beauty of nature whilst at forest school. For some, perhaps it’s managing to climb up high on our climbing frame, splashing in puddles, seeing a piece of art, dancing, singing, understanding and ‘seeing’ how a maths problem works or taking part in a community even such as the farmers market or dancing at the church fete.

Moments of “Wow” can occur throughout the children’s day. Through discussion, acknowledgement and sharing our Wow moments as a community, we aim to develop the children’s understanding of this element of their own spirituality alongside our values of love, respect, and community.

“Nows” – Noticing

Spirituality is the punctuation of life. For our wellbeing, we need to learn to be able to stop, to notice, to breathe.

At Lee Common, we teach the children simple, mindfulness techniques to help them settle their minds and calm themselves.

 Visual aids such as the ‘stilling bottle’ which, once still, changes from the ‘churned up’ mud and water solution to clear water and a layer of mud. This is likened to our minds which can become ‘muddied’ with thoughts and emotions which, when given a period of clam and stillness, will settle down to allow us to ‘see clearly’ again.

Simple breathing techniques are also taught such as petal breathing or ‘5 Finger Breathing’ and used regularly throughout the week.

Children are offered quiet reflection time during daily worship where they will be invited to and close their eyes reflect on what has been discussed in a calm, quiet environment. Class rooms also offer reflection corners for children and a sensory shed in the schools shared area.

Yoga and forest school sessions are also foster opportunities to develop the children’s spiritual wellbeing.

British Values

 Like all schools, we also support the promotion of British values which aim to ensure our young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. 

Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law.

The Key British Values are:

• Democracy
• Rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs