School Values and Ethos
SIAMs ReportBeing a 'Church' School, founded in the Anglican and Methodist Christian traditions, defines the nature and way we do all things for all members of our school community and beyond and, as such, our warm and heartfelt welcome is for all people of faiths and no faith equally and inclusively.
Our values - Grace, Love and Fellowship are found everywhere in school and on all documentation. Children explore what these values mean through worship, celebration, reflection and in conversation with staff and in particular how they help us all to know how to relate to each other - following the example of Jesus Christ.
Religious Education taught is acceptable to both the Anglican and Methodist churches in its concept and practice and statutorily compliant with the Bolton SACRE syllabus. Whilst our teaching is based on a strongly Christian ethos, children of other faiths and those who have no faith are all welcomed equally.
During the school year, visits are made to the Anglican and Methodist churches in the village as part of the RE Curriculum, or to take part in a special service held to commemorate a particular event. We warmly welcome visitors from both churches, and others, to lead our worship in school. We endeavour to provide opportunities for modern ministry through song and dance to engage and inspire our young people in their journey with faith.
Our Gospel values underpin how and why we create the environment that we do where every individual is valued and accepted for who they are and what they will become. We work in the belief that every child is invaluably precious, treasured and cherished by God, and therefore should be cared for in the same way in school. We accept it is fully aligned as both our professional and faithful duties to help, support, encourage, guide and inspire children to achieve the very best they can at whatever they do. To succeed in both these, we have created a thoughtful, compassionate, fun, innovative and caring family at Blackrod Church School that we are very happy to share.
We are very lucky to be supported by both St Katharine's Church of England Church in Blackrod and the Wigan Methodist Circuit.
Rev Angela Wynne and Rev Shaun Swithinbank serve enthusiastically and very supportively on our Governing Board, representing thoughtfully the views and thinking of their wider Churches. We are very lucky to enjoy close co-operation and association with our worshipping congregations in Blackrod and beyond and we create meaningful and enriching opportunities to share together wherever possible.
We feel very lucky to also enjoy the support of Manchester Anglican Diocese in the Children Changing Places project to not only help children to become creative, dynamic and enthusiastic leaders of worship, but also to support learning and spiritual development in the class room. The Wigan Methodist Circuit team are also regularly in school to help children to learn how to support each other in finding peaceful and constructive resolutions to problems set against the words attributed to John Wesley - 'do all the good you can...'
Please take the time to read our Outstanding SIAMS inspection report ( SIAMs Report ). It recognises and celebrates the outstanding way we care for, nurture and encourage our children, and how we strive for the very best for them. It is this aspect of our work that makes us very proud and inspires us daily to try harder and better for our children.