Christian Distinctiveness

St Mary’s Church of England Primary School is extremely proud to be part of a wider family of 155 church schools belonging to the well-established Diocese of London. Our staff, Advisory Board and our Church Partner St Mary’s Willesden are committed to ensuring the best possible educational experience for every child in our care, regardless of whether they come from a Christian background, a different religious background, or a background of no religion at all.

• Aspiring towards a distinctly Christian vision, which is deeply rooted in the teachings of the Bible
• Seeking to live by our Christian values of Faith, Hope and Charity
• Providing a highly inclusive setting, which warmly welcomes children and families from all backgrounds
• Shaping our key policies and strategic spending decisions in the light of our vision
• Utilising our school, and its position in the community, as a vehicle to serve and help others, especially those in great need
• Holding Collective Worship as the heartbeat that shapes and reflects on every day
• Following a familiar and reassuring rhythm of Christian prayer throughout each day in school
• Reminding all who enter or pass by that we are a church school through the Christian symbols evident in our school environment
• Building time for reflection into the school timetable every day, to foster good mental health and time to just ‘be’ in our busy modern world
• Forging strong links with our local church, St Mary’s Willesden Church, and the wider parish and local community
• Teaching of at least 1 hour of RE per week
• Ensuring RE lessons are broadly Christian in nature but also provide sound coverage of the five other major world religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism
• Providing inspiring training and release time for an RE Subject Leader who is passionate about driving improvements to teaching and learning
• Encouraging children to think about ‘big questions’ in life and to move further along the path of their spiritual journey, whatever their starting point
• Nurturing a sense of awe and wonder in our natural world through weekly outdoor learning sessions 
• Using the sense of wonder in all creation to take positive steps to safeguard our natural world in all its beauty
• Making excellent use of our links with diocese, in providing training and development opportunities for staff and unique and memorable experiences for children