Our Vision

Our vision is that we enable every child to ‘shine bright their light.’  This is a key message from Matthew 5:14-16. It combines the message of, ‘You are the light of the world’ and ‘let your light shine.’ We are clear about our mission -lighting up lives so that they may share the light. 

Jesus calls us to be like a candle held in God’s hands, bringing light to His world. Love represents the flame, unity is represented by the wick and perseverance the wax which together provide the light to follow our vision.   

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed a crowd and revealed eight blessings (known as the Beatitudes) and said, ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one, after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’

Our Christian Values

Our core Christian values are love, unity and perseverance.  They underpin our vision for children to shine bright their lights. We learn about our values during worship, class time, playtime and with our friends, teachers and families. You can find out more by watching our STC Church School channel in our Video Resource Centre.

Love – ‘The Flame’

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

(1 John 4:16)

• Jesus has the brightest love of all: God is love. Jesus is God with us. He is God in human form. He is the very definition of love. He has the brightest love ever!

• Love brings light: Love is the flame of the candle, making the world brighter. The more we love God and love one another, the brighter we shine.

• Love is our purpose: To shine bright with light is the purpose of a candle. To shine bright with love is our purpose as people - as Jesus shows us.

We want everyone in our community to know that they are loved by us, by God (1 Corinthians: 13) and to learn to love too. We aim to foster this same broad view of love into our learning community so that all may flourish. This means loving those in school, our neighbours (Matthew 22:29) and even those we may disagree with (Matthew 5: 43-48). Jesus is the exmpale we hold up. He included and love everyone. We aim to provide a safe and loving space for all.

Unity – ‘The Wick’

“I pray ... that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” (Jesus’ Prayer in John 17:20-21)

• Jesus prayed for our unity: Jesus prayed that all His people would be one, just as God is one. He wants us to shine as an example of unity to the world.

• One wick = One flame: Unity is like the wick. One wick focusses everything on one flame, making it even brighter. Jesus calls us to be one bright flame.

• Unity comes from love, not sameness: The flame around the wick has many shades of colour. We are one not because we are the same, but because, though we are all different, we love one another and love our wonderful diversity.

Unity helps us to break down barriers, to resolve conflicts and develop a collaborative community. Unity acknowledges that we are all unique but are also all God's children. Jesus prayed for His followers to be as one (John 17:20-23). He demonstrated unity in his daily life, in working with his disciples and in bringing people together (Romans 15:5-6). Unity grows out of our value of love as we learn to love our neighbours as ourselves (Mark 12:33).

Perseverance – ‘The Wax’

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(Jesus in Matthew 28:20)

• Fuelled by perseverance:  To burn for a long time, a candle needs lots of wax. Perseverance is like wax: it is our fuel to burn with love long-term.

• Strength through good and bad: Jesus calls us to be like candles shining bright not only through the good days, but also through the hard times of life.

• We are not alone: Jesus promised His people that He would stay with them forever. Perseverance comes from knowing we are not alone, because Jesus says, “I am with you always”

Jesus frequently encouraged his disciples to persevere in the face of adversity (to feed crowds or to cross the stormy sea  Luke :6) and we enourage one another to do the same. We encourage one another to strive to do what is right and not to give up, as Jesus taught us. (Galatians 6:9) The New Testament teaches us to be patient, to persevere and to finish the race (Hebrews 12:1). The bible also teaches us to acknowledge difficult times, to show grace to one another and to oursleves as we learn from mistakes and shine more brightly (2 Corinthians 12:8).

Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools

As a church school we are inspected under the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools' framework. This inspection focuses on our church school foundation, vision, worship, leadership and religious education. In our last inspection we were graded as 'good.' The report is below.

We are proud of our ethos, of who we are and what we do. St Thomas Cantilupe is a special place and this is reflected in the feeling of belonging which shines out from and around our school.

Zimbe! at Teddies

With the St Edward's Singers, the Teddies Chapel Choir, Wolvercote Primary School, Cutteslowe Primary School, St Thomas Cantilupe CofE Primary School and the Dragon. What a great day it was!