Our Church School

Our Ethos is 'Care, Believe, Achieve'

Within a happy and caring environment, we encourage each individual to achieve their fullest potential as well as develop their self-belief and respect for themselves, each other and the world around them.

Lanercost Church of England Primary School

We are a voluntary controlled Church of England School in the diocese of Carlisle. Our successful and thriving school works in accordance with the beliefs and practices of the Anglican Church, as required by the Trust Deed and the instrument of governance of this Church of England School. Our ethos, vision and values ensure that we are sensitive to the individual members of our school and to the wider community. We aim to support the academic, spiritual and character growth of every child respecting those of the faith, those of other faiths and those of no faith. Everyone is a valued member of the school. As a Voluntary Controlled School, Lanercost has a strong Christian ethos and Christian Values underpin the schools ethos and drivers for improvement. 

Collective Worship

 Collective Worship underpins the Christian nature of our school. It wholly supports the school’s aims and recognises the different experiences, backgrounds and commitment of children and adults gathered together in school.  We believe that Collective Worship is a time when we give God recognition for the things he has done and given us and where we learn of his character and love. We think about Jesus’ life as well as other biblical characters and famous Christians as a model for our own. We encourage all stake holders to realise this applies to all aspects of our lives heart, mind, bodies – strength. It influences our attitude to work (and how hard we try and think), our attitude to others and how well we care, our attitude to our bodies and how we look after ourselves, respect our bodies (and others) and how hard we try with physical activities and play. Collective Worship covers a variety of themes and styles through a holistic approach. 

Collective Worship is led by different stake holders, teachers, children and visiting members of the community. The different people leading collective worship support the theological basis of collective worship and add diversity.

Godly Play

Each half term, all children participate in a Godly Play session. These sessions, which are linked to our core school values, have allowed the children to access Bible stories in a different way and they have been encouraged to wonder and express their reflections using a range of media. Children respond well to the Godly Play sessions and they are encouraged to become more reflective on different stories and their values. It also gives children the opportunity to think about how they can use the values/teachings in their own lives at home and at school.

RE Week, Values Mornings and Visitors

Our annual RE Week is extremely beneficial for the children and they respond well to having the time and opportunity to study and reflect on a different theme for the week. We work collaboratively with the Priory and other local church schools to ensure that the children have the opportunities to learn about Christian traditions and Bible stories and teachings. We are fortunate to have many visitors to school, who share their experiences and knowledge with the children to enrich their learning.

 Our half termly Values mornings introduce the value we are focusing on and they support children to develop their ability to reflect. The staff model and encourage these skills during Collective Worship and in class. A range of activities are designed to allow the children to explore different Bible stories and develop their understanding of how they can use the values in their everyday lives.

Lanercost Priory and the Parish Church of St Mary Magadalene

 The school has excellent links with the Parish of Lanercost and in particular Lanercost Priory. Click here for further information regarding Lanercost Priory.

Services

Each term, we hold a special service at the Priory for Harvest, Christmas, Easter and our Leavers’ service. The children present work and artwork, share stories and excerpts from the Bible, sing songs and write and lead prayers. The services are well attended by parents and other members of the community. We also hold Christingle services in conjunction with the Mother's Union.

Collective Worship

Fortnightly, we have Collective Worship in the Priory led by Rev. Angela. Here we learn about different characters and stories from the Bible and the children are able to experience worship in church.

Experiences

As part of a local group of church schools, children at Lanercost have the opportunity to participate in Experience Pentecost, Experience Christmas, Experience Harvest and Experience Easter which have all been held in the Priory. Different areas are set up in the church and members of the church community and/ or staff lead small groups of children at each station. The children have the opportunity to reflect on the different themes and they give positive feedback on these experiences. 

The Diocese of Carlisle and Board of Education

Click here for further information about our local Diocese and Board of Education .

SIAMS inspection

Click here for our recent SIAMS inspection (March 2018).