Theological Underpinning for Hackthorn Church of England Primary School
The book of Ephesians is written by Paul and in it he focuses on expanding the horizons of those in Ephesus reading it. He wants them to have a better understanding of God’s eternal purpose and grace and to appreciate what God wants for the church.
In a well known passage in Corinthians Paul talks about faith, hope and love with love being the most important of these (1 Corinthians 13: 13). In Ephesians 3:14-19 Paul mentions faith and love again, the first part of the passage talks about faith, and growing in faith rather than knowledge – though both are important and our vision makes clear the importance of knowledge.
Paul mentions love as part of a prayer, he prays his readers will be secure in their reliance on love where he uses the imagery of a tree held strongly by deep roots. It is about having deep roots in Jesus though his love and sacrifice.
In Ephesians 3:17, Paul uses the verb form of the Greek word agape (ἀγάπη) to describe love. Agape is often defined as unconditional, sacrificial love, and is often considered the highest form of Christian love. Paul is showing us the love God has for us, in verse 18 he is encouraging the reader to meditate and understand just how wide and deep God’s love is for them. The type of love which involves sacrificing and caring for others, even when it's inconvenient or uncomfortable. It's the kind of love that's willing to do anything for another person, even sacrificing oneself, without expecting anything in return. Our school community spends time understanding this love, learning from it and using it as an example in everything we do. We want to be rooted in this type of love to enable the whole school community to flourish and grow.
Hackthorn Church of England Primary School is about this type of love, one that nurtures, one that challenges, one that shows compassion, one that inspires to be a positive difference in the world.
'The Hackthorn Way' enables us to live that love out practically.
We believe that our school is a truly unique and special place. We invited all the stakeholders of the school (pupils, parents, staff, the church, School Governors and the community) to reflect on what makes it so special and to consider words that started with the letters in Hackthorn, which summed up the ethos of our small, family, friendly school. The following nine words were the ones which were repeatedly mentioned and which we now refer to as 'the Hackthorn way'.
◦HAPPINESS – ‘Rejoice in the Lord always (and again I say rejoice)’ Philippians 4:4-7
◦ASPIRATION – ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you are working for the Lord.’ Colossians 3:23
◦COMMUNITY – ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.’ Psalm 133
◦KINDNESS – ‘Be kind and tender hearted to one another and forgive one another as God has forgiven you.’ Ephesians 4:32
◦TRADITION – ‘I praise you because you always remember me and follow the teachings that I have handed on to you.’ 1 Corinthians 11:21
◦HONESTY – ‘Let us love with actions and in truth.’ John 3:18
◦OPPORTUNITY – ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.’ Matthew 7:7
◦RESPECT – ‘In everything, set them an example by doing what is good.’ Titus 2:7
◦NURTURE – ‘Train up a child in the way they should go; and when they are old, they will not depart from it.’ Proverbs 22:6
The whole community here have really embraced these values and one of our children even invented the 'Hackthorn way' rap. Interestingly the top value was Happiness (not a word you often hear in Education). The other values of Aspiration, Community, Kindness, Tradition, Honesty, Opportunity, Respect and Nurture sum up the ethos of our school perfectly.
We now have a large wooden signpost at the entrance of our school which was specially commissioned and constructed by our village craftsman with the school's Christian values clearly carved on it. We focus on these values during worship. We are grateful to the Diocese of Lincoln for helping us to fund our signpost and value signs.
