Christian Vision

At PSJ we aspire to bring the joy of Jesus to all, offering the love of Jesus in both word and action. We encourage our pupils to be curious and responsible advocates of God’s creation.

We support and guide pupils in developing perseverance and commitment during their Christian journey, both in the present and in the future. 

We strive to instil respect for one another, our neighbours and the wider global community.

Our underlying Christian values are explored through exciting, interactive and relevant Collective Worship sessions each week. We focus on one of our Christian values each half-term, exploring a different thread each week. These ideas are then followed up in class, based around a thought-provoking key question. Teaching these values so explicitly allows us to mould a shared understanding of how we live well together.

Our main school values are Love, Responsibility, Respect and Perseverance

Growing Roots, Standing Firm in Faith, Being Bold in all we do.

At Pilling St John’s CE Primary School and Nursery we are a community where all are welcome and encouraged to flourish as individuals. We do this by:

Growing Roots

‘Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.’                                                                                                                                                                                        Ephesians 3:17

We want our lives to be crafted by the teachings of Jesus and the way we work together to mirror His love: patient, kind and never-failing. (1 Corinthians 13)

We are a place of excellence which maximises an individual’s potential through faith in God, creative and innovative teaching, and strong partnerships between children, parents, staff, governors and the wider community.

Standing Firm

‘Stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.’       

1 Corinthians 16:13

We are able to express our own views, listen to others and ask questions to challenge and strengthen our self-belief. This is through exploration of big ideas about the world and our relationship with it; understanding core themes in the Bible and the development of prayer and reflection.  

We encourage hard work and perseverance within a caring and stimulating environment. Our entire community is made strong through collaboration: learning, supporting and challenging each other.

Being Bold

‘Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.’            

Joshua 1:9

We believe that Jesus’ teachings support our children to be bold and courageous, seeing the world as a wonderful place full of opportunities and hope.

We challenge and support children in taking risks, leading their own learning and developing critical thinking to become life-long learners.   

RE Policy 2023-24

We have strong links with our local Church, St. John the Baptist. Father Peter and Reverend Naomi regularly attend our School and we work very closely with them to ensure that we provide rich worship and spiritual life that, together enable spiritual flourishing. They support us in delivering and shaping an effective RE Curriculum, enabling us to ensure that RE is taught well and pupils make at least expected progress. 

Church Website

Message from the Church

St. John’s is your local Church of England Parish Church, please come and join us.

You will be made welcome by a congregation who are familiar with welcoming people back to Church. A Church familiar with greeting friends, both old and new.

Our congregation is not only composed of local residents, but many people also travel from far and wide to receive a special S. John’s welcome and to enjoy Worship. At S. John’s people find a haven of spiritual refreshment.

Please come along and be part of our Church family you will be made very welcome. (Please see the Church Website link above, for more details of Church Service etc).

Blackburn Diocese Vision 2026

Bishop Julian originally presented the vision for the future of the Diocese to the Bishop’s Leadership Team, Bishop’s Council and Diocesan Synod over a period of several months in late 2014 and early 2015. He spoke to Diocesan Synod about the vision on October 18, 2014, almost a year to the day since he first arrived in the Diocese as Bishop.

An initial summary document was handed out to all Synod representatives prior to a special ‘Vision Synod Meeting’ on February 7, 2015 and before ratification of the proposals at Synod in March 2015.

‘Healthy Churches Transforming Communities’

We desire to make the Good News about Jesus Christ more widely known, because we believe:

• He is the One who brings ‘life in all its fullness’
• Healthy church communities have a positive and transformative impact on our society.

We will work together to achieve this by:

Making disciples of Jesus Christ

• Knowing the Scriptures better through reading, teaching, preaching and study
• Praying with greater depth and urgency for the Kingdom of God to come
• Worshipping in spirit and truth
• Giving generously of our time, talents and money to the cause of Christ

Being witnesses to Jesus Christ

• Sharing the Gospel of salvation with confidence
• Meeting human need: actions as well as words
• Planting 10 Strategic Church Plants and 200 New Local Congregations
• Caring for God’s creation

Growing leaders for Jesus Christ

• Developing a diocesan-wide culture of vocational discernment so that all may hear God’s call and use their gifts in the service of the Gospel.
• Discerning and forming theologically literate lay and ordained leaders, rooted in prayer and with a deep love of the Lord Jesus
• Nurturing a healthy partnership between clergy and laity by fully implementing the Lay Majority Ministry framework
• Forming and supporting a pipeline of highly motivated deacons and priests in order to enable the Diocese’s clergy deployment strategy

Inspiring Children and Young People to raise up a new generation for Christ

• Discipling and nurturing children and young people in their Faith
• Holding regular worship that is accessible and appealing to children and young people and their families.
• Enabling growth in the numbers of leaders of children and young people
• Leveraging a step change in ministry with those aged 11-16
• Facilitating effective partnerships between churches and schools

The Diocesan Vision Prayer

Heavenly Father, we embrace Your call for us to make disciples, to be witnesses, to grow leaders and inspire children and young people.  Give us eyes to see Your vision, ears to hear the prompting of Your Spirit and courage to follow in the footsteps of your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

Courageous Advocacy

What is a courageous advocate?

A courageous advocate is someone who champions a cause which is special and meaningful to them.

At PSJ  we have a strong emphasis on encouraging our pupils to become courageous advocates, not just locally, but nationally and globally (this is evident in our Vision statement and school drivers).

At some point in life we will all face challenges and need support to help us overcome these barriers. We teach our children that it is important to help others when we can no matter who they are, where they come from or what challenges they may face. We teach this through the teachings of the bible and learning about other courageous advocates.

It is important for our children to appreciate their role as part of a community; to take responsibility, to be able to look after themselves & to foster an  understanding of their importance, impact and influence in the world.

In recent years we have carried out a range of different fundraising to support many good causes, some of which include:

• Children's Society - Christingle Service
• Blackpool's Women's Refuge - Harvest Service.
• Shoe Box Appeal

• The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
• School Houses  - raising money for chosen Charities.

Our children have an excellent grasp on the meaning of belonging to a local and global community and the sense of responsibility that comes with belonging. Thereby developing their ability to empathise and make a small sacrifice to benefit others. Together we consider the beauty and fragility of our environment, the actions we take, and the impact these actions may have on the well-being of everyone. Our school community and curriculum actively embrace a responsibility for the world in which we live. We are diligent to show our connection with, and care for, the world in which we all live and care for the people who live in it:

• Links with the local Mother's Union  - Church of St John Baptist
• Pilling Coffee Feast
• Pilling Lights Switch On - Pupils sing Carols 
• Pupils Sing to ‘Meet and Eat’ Club at Pilling Village Hall
• Charities of significance to our children
• School Uniform Donation Area at Church
• Pilling Methodist Church - Little Pebbles Group.
• Christmas Cards for Pilling Nursing Home

School Council seek the views of pupils as to which causes we want to support,

developing links with schools locally, nationally and internationally (to learn about the similarities, differences & how we can help support/develop each other through these).

• Strong links with Church  - Stay and Play, EYFS Children attend monthly sessions at Church, whole school worship in Church and attend regular Church services, where the children participate..
• Friends community events such as Christmas and Summer Fayres, discos and other events.
• Headteacher and Media Club writes in the local Parish newsletter, The Green Book and local papers to reach out to the community.