Our Vision
Our school’s theologically rooted Christian vision underpins our culture in which pupils and adults thrive. At Stoke Minster CE Academy, the parable of the mustard seed reminds us that from small seeds can come great potential. We consider our school to be like the mustard tree in our story as we are proud of the diversity that our school embraces. Just like the birds of the air that settle in the branches of the mustard tree, our children come from all over the world and settle into our school beginning their learning journey from different starting points. Our school offers a place of safety and nurture where everyone is welcomed and treated with respect; we pride ourselves in the support offered to all of our families and our children.
Our vision is for all in our care to achieve their God given potential; believing that with Faith, Hope and Love in our hearts we will grow and Flourish. At Stoke Minster CE Academy, the parable of the Mustard Seed reminds us that from small seeds can come great potential. With this in mind, we educate our children for the future, enabling them to fulfil their God-given potential and to develop as confident, determined, empathetic well-balanced individuals who care about their community and the wider world. Through the opportunities provided to our children, we aim that all children leave Stoke Minster with a life-long love of learning and confidence in their own abilities.
The schools vision is clear and articulated by all in our school community as a Christian way of belonging and flourishing together. Stoke Minster has four core values, our values enable us to grow and flourish to fulfill our God-given potential. Our values are faith, hope, love and flourish. Each of our values are represented by a symbol, which can be found on the school logo (which was designed by our children in 2022). If you look carefully, you can even spot the mustard tree in our logo!
Love –loving each other just as our Heavenly Father loves us, following Jesus’ example of kindness and compassion, and fostering a life-long love of learning guided by faith. Love one another as I have loved you. John 13:34.
Faith – trusting in God and reflecting deeply as we develop spiritually following in the footsteps of Jesus with a faithful heart. Having faith in our own abilities as we take risks and move out of our comfort zones. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart…and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.
Hope- aspiring to be the best that we can be, persevering through challenges, showing courage when things become difficult guided by faith and the promise of a bright future. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord…plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29: 11
Flourish – encouraging pride in achievements, creativity in learning and enriching experiences. Taking risks as they confidently grow, develop talents and reach their God-given potential. Use your gifts well and grow what God has given to you. (based on) Matthew 25: 14-16.
In our school, it is the professional responsibility of all staff to promote our values; our staff serve as positive role-models, demonstrating our values alongside high expectations and aspirations for every child. Our values are the beating heart of our daily life in school; children are encouraged to demonstrate and to live out our values each day, the school adopts these values to form our school rules.
Staff notice when our children are living out our values and they award values points. Desired behaviours which represent our values have been identified and are used by staff to ensure that value points are consistent throughout the school, the school values wheel is referred to. As a result of the values points, throughout the day children are encouraged and challenged to think about our school values and the importance of them as we live our daily lives.
Our Christian Values
It is important that our children have solid examples of inspirational people throughout history who have demonstrated our school values and the impact that their actions have had upon the world even today. We have chosen a diverse group of individuals from different points in history and from all over the world to demonstrate that anyone can be agents of change and their legacy still lives on today. We believe that this highlights the importance of living out our values each day.
Bishop Stamer stands for our Faith value.
He was a local man and Rector of Stoke On Trent for 34 years from 1858. He founded our school and many others across Stoke on Trent as he believed that all children, regardless of their backgrounds, should have a high-quality education. He enabled lots of children to believe in themselves and certainly followed in the footsteps of Jesus. He is represented by the cross.
Martin Luther King represents our value of Hope and the symbol of the dove. He worked tirelessly to overcome racism believing, as we do at Stoke Minster, that everyone is different but we are all welcome. He believed that we must never give up believing that things can change.
Florence Nightingale stands for our value of love and she is represented by the symbol of the heart. She demonstrated love to everyone when overcoming huge challenges to improve conditions and to care for injured soldiers on the battle fields.
Malala Yousafzai is our role model for flourish and she is represented by the butterfly. She was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan for speaking up for girls rights to education. Now living in Birmingham, she demonstrates that it is possible to flourish under difficult circumstances.
