Christian Ethos - Bentley School

"Know that I am with you always," Matthew 28:20

Bentley is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School and we have strong links with St Mary’s Church, Bentley. We are excited to be welcoming a new vicar, Revd Chris Willis, to the newly formed Benefice of Bentley, Brantham, East Bergholt and Tattingstone.We hope Chris will be involved in some services and experiences, both in church and at school in the coming months and years.

For more information about Chris, see the attached letter.

Our church provides an Open the Book team who visit monthly for collective worship and 2 Foundation Governors who are actively involved in monitoring the Christian Ethos of the school. Bentley Baptist church are involved in some of our services too. As a Church School, we take pride in our Christian Vision:

Our vision is for all children to be…

confident individuals, successful learners and responsible citizens

… who are well equipped for future life, knowing that God is with them always.

'Know that I am always with you' Matthew 28:20

We encourage the spiritual, social, moral and cultural development of the school family by embedding Christian values into everyday life. This was celebrated in our SIAMS inspection in September 2023.

The Governors closely monitor the ethos of Bentley School through a separate Ethos Committee, following an action plan to promote the Christian Ethos of Bentley School and develop prayer with the children. Our worship evaluation schedule can be found here. The school has an active Worship Group which plans, delivers and evaluates worship, assemblies and activities for the rest of the school. We have raised money for Children in Need, Blue Cross, Macmillan Cancer, Comic Relief, Sports Relief, and any other charities that the children are interested in.

Pupil Voice	Epiphany Reflections
"If God was in everything, people might not harm things." Y6	“Having time to share our journeys was really good fun because you could hear where other people had been and the ups and downs of their journey”.
Jesus was special. He made people who were ill better and he helped people who were sad." EY	“life is like a journey because you get good bits and difficult bits. If you keep thinking about where you are trying to get to it can keep you going as there is something to look forward to when you get there”.
"Snow comes when God breathes it out. God whispers to me at night time." EY	“it is important not to judge a book by its cover...seeing someone’s shoes or photograph doesn’t really tell you what that person is like all of the time, only in that activity or place. We behave differently with different people and it takes a long time to really get to know someone”.
"Not all people believe in a God, people believe in different things." Y4	“help me to have resilience in myself when times are tough”,
"If God was one of us, he would be immortal to see the progress of humans; be vegetarian, teach us wisdom, care for everyone and communicate with anyone, and have unnatural human abilities." Y6	“thank you for granting people compassion; please help everyone to find resilience and confidence when times are hard”.

Bentley School was awarded the WIRE Award for Widening Inclusivity in Religious Education in July 2019. This was because of the Multi-Faith Day we had in November 2018 where people from 6 different faiths came to talk to the children. We have continued this work on inclusivity since achieving the award. We also visit both churches in Bentley and hold prayer space days every term. There are only a few schools in Suffolk who have this award.

As a Church School, we are keen to support the mental health of pupils and staff. Children have access to trained peer mentors at break and lunch times, who support them with their worries. The children have a nurture area available to them at these times, with a member of staff available to support them. Staff track the resilience of each child termly and outcomes are discussed with Senior Staff. Staff form close relationships with families and are able to support them through challenging situations. Governors formally monitor the wellbeing of staff annually, ensuring they have access to wellbeing support and free professional advice.

Click the links below to access leaflets for each half term to explore our value theme for collective worship at home:

Home School Value leaflets 2023-24