‘From Little Acorns Great Oaks Grow’
‘though it is the smallest of seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of plants and becomes a tree, so that birds come and perch in its shade’
Mark 4 (30-33)
friendship, effort, respect & honesty
Securing understanding of what the words ‘from little acorns great oaks grow’ mean to our school community has been a continuing and evolving journey. Initially, we wanted everyone in our school community to understand the metaphor not only of an individual acorn full of possibility and potential but also of the Oak Tree itself as the thing that gives life to acorns and ensures that the cycle continues.
The image of the Oak Tree in the school hall, reflects our chosen values of ‘honesty, friendship, respect and effort’ on its roots; helping us all to understand that it is these values that keep us anchored in the ground and are the things that we build our lives upon.
The trunk of the tree and its branches, captured in colourful and iridescent mosaic, represents the rich experiences that life at school , in all its fullness, offers to all our children. We have a rich and continually evolving curriculum designed to ensure strong progress and the development of conceptual links across subjects and year groups. We aim for knowledge and understanding to be built upon and deepened as children progress through the school. Areas of study and schemes of work are carefully chosen in support of this.
Around the hall are a series of mosaic acorns, underneath each one is a single word, all gathered from work with our parent community, each word a reflection of what we aspire for our learners to leave St Katharine’s with…
compassionate, resilient, kind, creative, individual, forgiving and imaginative…
…are some of these.
In 2020 we turned our attention to capturing our vision in a narrative statement and in turn underpinning this narrative with theology. This involved work with teaching staff, governors and members of our church community, we also sought guidance and support from our partners at the Salisbury Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE). Our work with our SBDE school improvement advisor has been integral to our continuing development.
We are proud of our vision. We feel that it will not only help us to articulate our aims, values and direction but will be a document that will steer our decision making and planning in the coming years.
Please click this link to read our Vision Narrative in full.
It was important to us that this theological underpinning was meaningfully woven into the work we had already done and the journey we had already taken. The words in Mark 4 (30 – 33) help us to make more sense of our existing vision.
‘though it is the smallest of seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of plants and becomes a tree, so that birds come and perch in its shade’
Our school is represented by the tree, a place to feel safe, cared for and supported.
In discussion with the children they come to understand that when they fall from the tree as acorns, when they leave St Katharine’s, that they in turn grow to become like trees themselves and can offer love, protection, care and support to others.
