“The distinctiveness and effectiveness of Archbishop Holgate’s as a Church of England school are outstanding Archbishop Holgate’s makes a very positive impact on the community it serves. The Christian vision and values are very explicit and drive all areas of school life. Leadership at all levels is exemplary. Consequently, students’ thrive at the Academy.”

SIAMS

At the heart of everything we do remains our commitment to our Christian mission and as a school community to work collectively to ‘enable every child to flourish in their potential as a child of God’. As a Church of England Academy we strive to ensure that all of our young people are cared for, given every opportunity to develop through academic study, to grow personally and spiritually and to live into being those Values we hold dear in our community and in wider society. This is reflected in the words of Dr John Sentamu, former Archbishop of York:

“Archbishop Holgate’s School, is built on the model of Christian love, and the challenges of how to live this out day by day in work and relationships.  Its ethos reflects the attitude found in the best Church of England schools across the land.  An attitude which says there should be no cap on aspiration for students serving one another willingly and with joy, achieving a true education which enables them not only to achieve academic success, but to apply it for the benefit of all, committed to making a difference to the lives of young people and their community. 
This is a school, rooted in a joyful trust in God revealed in Jesus Christ, which seeks to serve.  And its staff and Governors work to create an educational environment built on the foundations of Christian love, faith and hope, but not restricted to those who call themselves Christians.  At its heart, it has the Gospel virtues of Justice, Compassion, Forgiveness and Trust, values which are nurtured in the school community and lived out day by day”. 

++Sentamu Ebor

To these ends we are proud to be a Church of England Academy and as a school community remain absolutely committed to the ‘Values, Care and Achievement’ that underpin all we do. “A threefold cord is not easily broken.”  Ecclesiastes 4:12

As such, the three themes of our vision, Values, Care and Achievement are deliberately expressed in that order, our distinct Christian Values help ensure that every child is cared for as an individual and this in turn will help them to succeed academically.

  • Christian values – an ethos which lives our Christian values of Justice, Compassion, Forgiveness and Trust into being
  • Care for the individual – effective pastoral care with students valued as individuals
  • Maximum achievement – maximum achievement for each student at all levels

Our School Christian Values

Our School Values of Justice, Compassion, Forgiveness and Trust have been embedded across our school community and are ‘lived into being’ by students and staff. They permeate all areas of school life and represent a shared vision across the entire school community. During the new academic year we will further embed the Values Logos (displayed below) in our lessons, powerpoints, displays, and assemblies and strive to ensure that our Christian foundation can be seen explicitly in our teaching and learning across the curriculum, through our Christian Worship and the distinct ethos of the school.

As we begin a new decade it is worth reflecting on the Church of England Vision of Education to be Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good and how the values at the centre of this Wisdom, Hope, Community and Dignity dovetail perfectly with our school values identified above. Indeed, if we broaden this further to consider the links with British Values further synengy is evident. For example:

  • When we discuss Democracy are we not talking about Equality before God?
  • When we talk of the Rule of Law is this not really about Justice and Trust?
  • Is Individual Liberty not underpinned by Community and Freedom?
  • Is our desire for Mutual Tolerance and Respect not all about Love, Compassion and in some cases Forgiveness?

Everything we do at Archbishop’s is underpinned by our commitment to Values, Care and Achievement, a commitment that underpins all aspects of life within our school community and our commitment to School Improvement. Be it Governance, School Improvement, Relationships, Teaching and Learning, Collective Worship, RE, Leadership, Attainment and Progress, Behaviour or Vision they all stem from this.