Chaplaincy

Church of England 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 Christian ethos 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:

Click here for our vision, drivers and ethos.

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”

 

Assemblies

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.

 

All students at ESJ study Religious Education.

The table below shows the 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

 

 

Chaplaincy Team

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.

In addition, members 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.  They are also a vital part of our governing body.

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.