Friendship

Our first School Value is Friendship:

"Friendship is an undisputed value in our society, with children often spending more time with their friends than with family. It is a key concept in the Christian framework, with Jesus being criticised for being ‘the friend of sinners’ and eating with those whom society rejected.”

Read our Friendship Bible story below...

Luke 10: 25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25: A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

26: Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?”

27: The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’”

28: “You are right,” Jesus replied; “do this and you will live.”

29: But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”

30: Jesus answered, “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead.

31: It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side.

32: In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side.

33 But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.

34: He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.

35: The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’”

36: And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbour toward the man attacked by the robbers?”

37: The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.” Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.”

Trust

Trust is our second school value

"Trust is essential to human life and lies at the heart of all relationships. Trust entails vulnerability, putting yourself in others’ hands. We have to trust experts – pilots, dentists, surgeons. Trust is central to civilised society, to living together in harmony, so it is to be valued and honoured."

Read our Trust story from the Bible below...

Samuel 17:12-57 David and Goliath

12: David was the son of Jesse, who was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at the time Saul was king, he was already a very old man.[b]

13 His three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. The oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.

14: David was the youngest son, and while the three oldest brothers stayed with Saul,

15 David would go back to Bethlehem from time to time, to take care of his father’s sheep.

16: Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days.

17: One day Jesse said to David, “Take a half-bushel of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp.

18: And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well.

19: King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.”

20: David got up early the next morning, left someone else in charge of the sheep, took the food, and went as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelites were going out to their battle line, shouting the war cry.

21 The Philistine and the Israelite armies took positions for battle, facing each other.

22 David left the food with the officer in charge of the supplies, ran to the battle line, went to his brothers, and asked how they were getting along.

23: As he was talking with them, Goliath came forward and challenged the Israelites as he had done before. And David heard him.

24: When the Israelites saw Goliath, they ran away in terror.

25 “Look at him!” they said to each other. “Listen to his challenge! King Saul has promised to give a big reward to the man who kills him; the king will also give him his daughter to marry and will not require his father’s family to pay taxes.”

26: David asked the men who were near him, “What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this heathen Philistine to defy the army of the living God?”

27: They told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.

28: Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. He became angry with David and said, “What are you doing here? Who is taking care of those sheep of yours out there in the wilderness? You smart aleck, you! You just came to watch the fighting!”

29: “Now what have I done?” David asked. “Can’t I even ask a question?”

30: He turned to another man and asked him the same question, and every time he asked, he got the same answer.

31: Some men heard what David had said, and they told Saul, who sent for him.

32: David said to Saul, “Your Majesty, no one should be afraid of this Philistine! I will go and fight him.”

33: “No,” answered Saul. “How could you fight him? You’re just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life!”

34: “Your Majesty,” David said, “I take care of my father’s sheep. Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb,

35: I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death.

36: I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God.

37: The Lord has saved me from lions and bears; he will save me from this Philistine.”

“All right,” Saul answered. “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

38 He gave his own armor to David for him to wear: a bronze helmet, which he put on David’s head, and a coat of armor.

39 David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor and tried to walk, but he couldn’t, because he wasn’t used to wearing them. “I can’t fight with all this,” he said to Saul. “I’m not used to it.” So he took it all off.

40 He took his shepherd’s stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath.

David Defeats Goliath

41: The Philistine started walking toward David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. He kept coming closer,

42: and when he got a good look at David, he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good-looking boy.

43: He said to David, “What’s that stick for? Do you think I’m a dog?” And he called down curses from his god on David.

44: “Come on,” he challenged David, “and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat.”

45: David answered, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied.

46: This very day the Lord will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God,

47: and everyone here will see that the Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power.”

48: Goliath started walking toward David again, and David ran quickly toward the Philistine battle line to fight him.

49: He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground.

50: And so, without a sword, David defeated and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone!

51: He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath’s sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away.

52: The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them, pursuing them all the way to Gath[d] and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron.

53: When the Israelites came back from pursuing the Philistines, they looted their camp.

54: David got Goliath’s head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

Forgiveness

Our third school value is Forgiveness.

Jesus was uncompromising in his command to forgive. Forgive, he said, ‘seventy times seven’ (Matthew 18:21). In other words, forgive and keep on forgiving without limit. Forgiveness was at the heart of everything he did and is at the heart of the Lord’s Prayer. When Jesus declared a person’s sins to be forgiven, it often aroused the anger of those who were less willing to forgive than he was and yet a prayer for the forgiveness of his persecutors was on Jesus’ lips as he died. Christian preaching has always put forgiveness at the centre.

Read our Forgiveness Bible story below

Matthew 18:21-35 The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21: Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?”
22: “No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven,
23: because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants’ accounts.
24: He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
25: The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt.
26: The servant fell on his knees before the king. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’
27: The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28: “Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said.
29: His fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’
30: But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt.
31: When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything.
32: So he called the servant in. ‘You worthless slave!’ he said. ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to.
33: You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.’
34: The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.”
35: And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Peace

Our fourth school value is Peace.

Peace: The Hebrew term for peace, ‘shalom’, has a deep and complex meaning, encompassing much more than simply the absence of hostility or war. Shalom includes ideas of healing and health, wholeness and well-being. It means harmony, stability and security within a community. It refers to relationships based on truth and righteousness, where people flourish because they are nurtured.

Read our Peace Bible story below

Luke 8: 22-25 Jesus Calms a Storm

22: One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they started out.

23: As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water, so that they were all in great danger.

24: The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up, saying, “Master, Master! We are about to die!” Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and to the stormy water; they quieted down, and there was a great calm.

25: Then he said to the disciples, “Where is your faith?” But they were amazed and afraid, and said to one another, “Who is this man? He gives orders to the winds and waves, and they obey him!”

Thankfulness

Our final school value is Thankfulness.

Thankfulness: ‘Songs of thankfulness and praise…’ are at the heart of Christian worship. Thankfulness is directed towards God who gives and sustains life. Seeing the world as God’s creation underpins the way we approach everything in life, seeing it as a gift and not as a right.

Read our Thankfulness Bible story below.

Matthew 9: 1-8 Jesus Heals a Paralysed Man

1:Jesus got into the boat and went back across the lake to his own town,[a]

2: where some people brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a bed. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the paralyzed man, “Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven.”

3: Then some teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man is speaking blasphemy!”

4: Jesus perceived what they were thinking, and so he said, “Why are you thinking such evil things?

5: Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

6: I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”

7: The man got up and went home.

8: When the people saw it, they were afraid, and praised God for giving such authority to people.