Our School Vision 

At St Paul’s, our Christian vision is inspired by the Bible story of David and Goliath. Just as David faced challenges with courage, determination, and faith, we want our children and community to embrace these qualities in everyday life.

Be bigger than your fears

At St Paul’s, we work with our children and adults to promote a positive mindset. Everyone feels reassured when mistakes are made, as we learn and improve from them. Every learning activity is approached with hope and courage. If something is challenging, that’s a good sign—it means our brains are working hard, and that’s when real learning happens. Our teachers aim to challenge children, not to make things easy. If they succeed, we celebrate it! If not, we reflect on what has been gained from the experience and try again. Mistakes aren’t failures—they’re stepping stones.

We teach everyone that we don’t have to be controlled by fear. Our staff guide and encourage children through every obstacle. At St Paul’s, we are fortunate to have staff who are always ready to listen and help children with any worries they may have. Some children find comfort in journaling to express their emotions and process difficult situations through our Purely Wellbeing sessions.

Size doesn't matter

At St Paul’s, we believe that courage, determination, and heart matter more than size or status. Just as David didn’t let Goliath’s size stop him, we want everyone to understand that challenges—no matter how big—can be overcome with resilience and perseverance.

In life, we may come across both large and small obstacles, but we teach our community that the scale of a challenge doesn’t define what they are capable of achieving. Instead of being limited by what seems difficult, we encourage everyone to think beyond the problem, rise above it, and act with the mindset that success is possible. We want our children to dream ambitiously and believe in their own potential by fostering a culture of limitless learning.

To nurture this belief, we provide meaningful opportunities for our children to grow in leadership and self-assurance. Roles such as being part of our Pupil Advisory Board, Ethos Leaders, Children’s Chaplains, and Playground Buddies give children the chance to take responsibility, use their voices, and build confidence in a supportive environment.

In addition, our collective worship sessions create space for open discussion, critical thinking, and reflection. These conversations help children explore their ideas and values in a respectful and safe setting, where their thoughts and opinions are heard and valued. Through all of this, we aim to equip our children with the courage and confidence to take on whatever life puts in their path.

Believe it's possible

At St Paul’s, we recognise that many people believed it was impossible to defeat Goliath—that's why they were afraid of him. However, David refused the offer of armour, showing that he truly believed victory was possible. His strength came not from equipment or appearance, but from trusting in himself.

We aim to instil that same sense of self-belief in our children and staff. We know that without belief in what you’re striving for, success becomes harder to achieve. That’s why we offer our children a wide range of meaningful experiences that build confidence, resilience, and lifelong skills. These include Forest School sessions, performing in front of an audience with the school choir, sharing learning during class assemblies, participating in Bikeability training, attending the Year 6 residential, and ensuring all children learn to swim.

We begin every collective worship by sharing our school vision. This serves as a reminder to every member of our community that with belief, hope and trust anything is possible. It’s possible for you—and it’s possible for me.

Make use of what we already have

At St Paul’s, we encourage a mindset like David’s—he didn’t dwell on how he was different from Goliath or focus on what he lacked. Instead, he showed a determined, “so what?” attitude and surprised everyone with his quiet confidence and powerful actions. His story reminds us that when we embrace a growth mindset, we see challenges as opportunities and learn from setbacks so that we can move forward and succeed.

We also make the most of what we already have by drawing on the wisdom we’ve gained through our learning. We regularly revisit key knowledge and skills across all subjects so that this learning becomes embedded in our long-term memory. By doing this, we build on prior knowledge and apply our understanding to new contexts, helping us see that learning is a lifelong journey with endless opportunities for growth and improvement.

We aim to instil this positive mindset across our whole school community. Alongside this, we teach the importance of gratitude and giving back. At St Paul’s, we are proud to support both local and national charities, showing care and compassion for others. Through fundraising efforts for causes such as Children in Need, Macmillan Cancer Support, Place2Be, and Red Nose Day—as well as raising money for our own school—we help our children understand the value of kindness, empathy, and making a difference.

Our School Values

Our values guide everything we do at St Paul’s. They are lived out daily through teaching, learning, worship, and community life. We teach our values by modelling them, recognising and celebrating when they are shown, and encouraging children to reflect on their impact.

Through our values, children grow into compassionate, confident, and resilient individuals, ready to make a positive contribution to the world around them.