​Our Vision

'Growing together in knowledge, love and faith'

Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people. Luke 2.52

Our school vision and Christian values underpin all that we do at Totternhoe. All members of the school community played an active part in the rewriting of our school vision. Reverend Kaushal, staff, children and parents considered the aims and context of Totternhoe, guided by the school's ongoing journey.

​ Our vision has played a key part in the development of our curriculum review and identifies the following aspects that form some of the key elements of our new curriculum.

Our school is a happy, busy place with children and staff who have a range of faiths, represent a range of cultures and who speak a range of languages. We value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all in our school community and undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate this. We have found this approach to be enriching for all parties as it teaches tolerance and respect for the differences in our community and the wider world. 

Our Christian Character

Our Christian Faith and its Values are the foundation of all that we do at Totternhoe CE Academy. Our Christian Vision, Ethos and aims are firmly embedded in our practices, the children’s behaviour towards each other and their learning and the way in which our communities interact with each other.
We are proud to have a distinctive Christian Character for our families and children. Our understanding of biblical teaching gives a full and rich education for our children.
We warmly welcome children, families and staff of all faiths and none. Our atmosphere of inclusivity, growth, purpose, love and forgiveness is commented on by our staff, children, parents and visitors to our school. 

The Christian character of our school positively contributes to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children, by providing opportunities for them to learn about other people's faiths, feelings and values during Collective Worship, including those planned by pupils, reflection times, RE lessons and extra-curricular activities. 

Our Church

The school has maintained links with St Giles’ Church in Totternhoe over many years. In fact, when the school first began in 1867, it was a Church school.

Collective Worship

Collective Worship is a key feature in the life of Totternhoe CE Academy.  We join together to worship and give thanks. ​We have a daily act of collective worship where we meet as a school community to sing hymns, listen to stories, reflect on them and pray together.

At our times of Worship, we come together to:
be together,
pause and be still,
reflect and pray,
celebrate and shine,
worship and sing

Collective Worship at Totternhoe is a highly valued time of the school day, where the whole school community gathers together in a time that is honouring and worthy to God. During Collective Worship, our values provide opportunities for discussion about diversity, spiritual growth and development in our children and adults. This is demonstrated through the teachings of Jesus, stories from a range of cultures and backgrounds, and the personal experiences of our pupils and adults.

The school uses the Christian values of the 'Roots and Fruits' materials to add depth to the values teaching.  Each half term the theme of our Collective Worship is based on our values, as well as the suggested themes set by the Diocese of St Albans. In addition, we link the festivals and seasons of the church calendar,  to national celebrations and special days, to further enrich our whole school ethos.

We extend a warm welcome to Reverend Kaushal to lead Collective Worship each week, where he has been teaching the children the Lord's Prayer, as well as providing additional teachings about significant events in the Christian calendar, including Christmas and Easter. 

We also welcome the 'Open the Book' team from St Giles, who come along once each school term to lead Collective Worship in a fun, interactive and engaging way. They often choose children to come to the front and join in, helping them to deliver their message by acting out stories or reading out passages from the Bible.

Acolytes

Over the past few years we have enjoyed developing and establishing our Collective Worship Club. The children are responsible for planning, preparing and leading Collective Worship fortnightly, as well as opening and ending our daily Collective Worship by lighting and extinguishing the candles.

Christian Values at Totternhoe

At Totternhoe, we teach our children a range of  Christian Values which help them to work with each another co-operatively and with respect.  They are keenly linked to our three behaviour rules of; Be eager, Be respectful and Be safe. They learn the importance of friendship and unity, we teach children to approach life with positivity and hope, and to show empathy and acceptance towards others.  These values make our school community happy and harmonious, a fun place, where children feel secure. All of our values our intertwined in our school vision which is the golden thread running through everything at Totternhoe. 

At Totternhoe, every individual is valued for who they are and what they contribute to the school.  Our values are intended to support the personal, social and spiritual development of every pupil throughout the school.  The whole staff team and all pupils are involved in promoting Values and recognising where others are ‘living the values’. The values are welcomed by pupils and staff as values which are important within the school community and which will be important throughout life.

Our value for Autumn 1 is: GENEROSITY

Our Christian Values this year (2024-2025) are:

​Generosity
Compassion
Courage
Forgiveness
Friendship
Respect

Year B Values:

Thankfulness
Trust
Perseverance
Justice
Service
Truth

Year C Values:

Dignity
Community
Peace
Joy
Hope
Wisdom

Generosity Home School Values Challenge

This half term's home-school values challenge is to create an exotic piece of fruit represent a blessing that will be hung on the 'Generositree'. Please bring your fruit into school to share in Collective Worship to share with the rest of the school and hang on our tree. You'll also earn 5 house points.