Chaplaincy

Church School

Epping St. John’s School is a Church of England school that offers a caring community underpinned by the Christian values of acceptance and respect to encourage personal excellence and resilience. We have strong links with our local parish church, St. John’s Church, with regular visits to school by the Clergies and regular visits to the local church to commemorate different Christian calendared events.

Our belief that Christ values everyone means that there is an absolute openness and acceptance of those who do not share this faith.

As part of the Christian family, we show love and care to our community in the charity and volunterring activities that we get involved in each year.

Our vision is to create an environment where students embody the Christian values of the school and represent not only our ethos but also that of the community we live in.

Our Vision:

“To belong to the Christian family of ESJ is to strive for the exceptional. ESJ is a place where all are freed to succeed within an environment of hope, dignity, respect and the very highest expectations. ESJ strives to be the heartbeat of our local community where students are not only given the opportunity to succeed but also the courage to develop into exceptional members of society; equipped with the tools that they need to smash through any barriers and fulfil their life-long potential”.

The Chaplaincy team takes very seriously our commitment to ensuring that Christianity and the teachings of Christ are at the heart of every area of school life. Our main goals are to demonstrate the love that Jesus showed to all people and provide opportunities for students and staff to reflect on their own spirituality.

The driving force to being part of a Christian can be found in our Drivers:

Driver	Meaning	Link with Christian Church of England
Living well together	Students actively use Christian values that nurtures an inclusive, caring community where everyone lives well together and celebrates individuality.	Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied “Love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul. Love him with all your mind”
Dignity and Respect	A safe respectful environment where everyone can be themselves and thrive in all areas: academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.	Galations 3: 29 “There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free person. There is neither male nor female. Because you belong to the Christ Jesus, you are all one”
Develop Wisdom In All	An exceptional teaching and learning centre for the community where everyone develops a thirst for knowledge and everyone is prepared for future success/life-long learning – students, staff, leaders, parents/carers & governors.	God speaks to Joshua- “Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified” The story of Moses, Exodus 9- “Let my people go”
Courageous Education with Character	ESJ has a broad, varied and balanced curriculum future focused that promotes hope, aspiration, resilience and courageous advocacy. This will give students the freedom to think and act more powerfully in their lives	Proverbs 8:11 “Wisdom is worth more than Rubies”
Highest Hopes and aspirations	ESJ is a place of high expectations & exceptional opportunities for all. Students strive to do better. Staff strive to create the leaders of the future	James 2:26 “If you have the faith that you want to go far in life but you don’t work towards it, you won’t be able to make it to that destination” “Faith without works is dead”

 

We also believe in forgiveness as it reminds us that we all make mistakes and need an opportunity to learn from these and move on with our lives. It also reminds us that revenge and hatred cause more problems than solutions. If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you. Mark 11:25

Our six core Drivers are the driving force behind our assembly programme with one session a half term specifically dedicated to a value and the others making links to the values where possible. The vast majority of assemblies are specifically Christian and an increasing number of these acts of Christian worship focus on our distinct Anglican background. We have a chaplaincy team consisting of our local Clergies Rev. L. Batson and Rev. J. Fry, student chaplains and other members of the school community. The Chaplaincy team is involved in delivering at least one assembly a term, more if available, and are consulted in the development of the programme itself.

As well as the weekly assembly the Chaplaincy Team have been instrumental in devising a thought for the week to allow students a daily weekly act of reflection. These nuggets are often verses from the Bible, Church teachings or are the words of inspirational Christian figures. Where this is not the case the thoughts for the week reflect the outlook of some of the other religious traditions found in our local and school communities. This allows students to learn about and from other viewpoints as well as making connections between all peoples of faith. Students are expected to say the Lord’s prayer once a week in form on reflection days. Non-Christians are asked to bow their heads as a sign of respect and they don’t have to say the Lord’s prayer.

 

Epping St. Johns has very close ties with our local Christian church, in particular St. John the Baptist Church in Epping. The Chaplaincy team are seeking new ways to develop the links between church and school so that the local community can be kept up to date with the fabulous opportunities being offered at the school so that the students at school can start to see the Church as more than a building that is just used for worship on a Sunday.

As a Chaplaincy team we run a variety of events throughout the year that are focussed primarily on what being a Christian in today’s world involves and how Christians share their faith. These events include:

-          Christmas Service at St. John’s Church (all years)

-          Year 8 Reflections on Faith day at St. John’s Church.

-         Year 9 Consequence

-        Year 10 Fair Trade Games

-         Delivery of Assemblies.

-         Involvement in the school's enrichment week programme.

All students at ESJ study Religious Education, table below shows topics studied across year groups:

     

Year 7 Christian key events assemblies: Advent Sacrifice Ascension Pentecost Christianity teaching in lessons: The Bible, Old Testament

Year 8 Christian key events assemblies: Advent Sacrifice Ascension Pentecost Christianity teaching in lessons: The Bible, New Testament

Year 9 Christian key events assemblies: Advent Sacrifice Ascension Pentecost Christianity teaching in lessons: Christian beliefs Crime and punishment

Year 10 Christian key events assemblies: Advent Sacrifice Ascension Pentecost Christianity teaching in lessons: Christian Practices Family and relationships

In addition member of the Chaplaincy team are involved in advising, reviewing and monitoring how the school honours it commitment to the core values of Church of England education. They support the school in preparing their DFEs Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) and on acting on the outcomes of the inspection.

The Chaplaincy team also come to the school twice a week to spend time with students and staff alike. People wishing to ask questions about faith/belief can drop in speak to the team.