Christian Vision

"Be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love" (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people. I urge you, brothers and sisters, to submit to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labours at it.

Our Vision Statement

This vision statement, deeply rooted in Christian theology, encapsulates who we are: a loving and caring school community where all are happy, valued and respected.

It also captures what we want for our pupils – to be courageous in their academic and life choices; to be strong and resilient learners who don’t give up when things are challenging and support each other. Additionally, we encourage children to explore their own spirituality and wonder about life’s big questions in a supportive and nurturing environment.

Our Christian Values

As a church school in the Diocese of Hereford Multi Academy Trust our Christian vision of 'Be courageous; be strong; do everything in love', underpinned by our Christian values of

Love

Strength

Courage

is central to all aspects of life at Bitterley School. The warm welcoming and family atmosphere is evident as soon as you enter the school building.

How did we define our vision?

The process of defining our collective vision involved all stakeholders of our school and took more than two terms to collate and finalise. Under the guidance of our diocesan advisor, we presented staff, pupils and parents with three questions:

Who are we? (As a school and as a community)
What is the need for our school? (What do our children, parents and community need?)
What do we do? Why do we do it?

We had a range of responses from both children and staff, who were given a couple of weeks to think about each question. It was decided that our new vision, would articulate what our children and staff need on a much deeper level than academics.

After collating our ideas, we then spent time as a teaching staff trying to articulate all our responses into sentences and coherent ideas. Here are some of our initial ideas: collating our ideas, we then spent time as a teaching staff trying to articulate all our responses into sentences and coherent ideas.

After collating these two ideas, we then presented it to our governing body, to seek their advice. Our foundation governor spent some time working with our R.E and Collective Worship Lead to try and refine our ideas, to make our vision more accessible to all.

As a result of these conversations and many more staff meetings, we then ended up with our finalised vision: a true articulation of what we value and embody at our school.

Our Core Christian Values:

Each term, the children explore one of the school’s Core Values through Collective Worship and the curriculum. Each class has a reflection area to allow space for personal reflection, spiritual development and prayer.

Flourishing Moments

In March 2024 the worship crew wanted to explore concept of a flourishing moment of love strength and courage. They surveyed parents, carers, pupils and all staff to create examples of flourishing moments. These are used to generate Christian Vision awards.