At St Peter’s Collegiate Academy, our Christian values and ethos form the foundation of everything we do. As a Church of England Academy serving Wolverhampton within the Lichfield Diocese, we are committed to nurturing the principles and values central to the Christian faith.

Our vision is to support our students in their quest for knowledge and wisdom, helping them flourish as lifelong learners who seek to love God, serve the community, and live life in all its fullness. We recognise each child as uniquely valuable and created in the image of God. This belief shapes their education and overall growth—spiritually, morally, intellectually, socially, and physically. We aim to instil respect, a spirit of service, aspiration, and skills that lead to fulfilling lives with hope and purpose. We want all our students to explore and experience the Christian faith, with Jesus Christ's teachings enriching their entire educational journey.

To foster spiritual development, we encourage:

• Exploring the Christian faith based on biblical teachings.
• Engaging in various forms of Christian worship, including traditional Anglican practices like the Eucharist, prayer, and liturgy, as well as contemporary styles such as music, creative arts, storytelling, and reflection.
• Expressing Christian faith in the academy and wider community through practical application of Jesus' teachings, focusing on our values of service, aspiration, and respect.

We offer a rich academic curriculum enhanced with cultural experiences reflecting our diverse and inclusive community. We encourage students to seek new experiences, develop their skills, and discover new interests to fulfil their God-given potential. We welcome everyone, regardless of background, who seeks an education grounded in Christian values. Our religious education curriculum, along with collective worship programmes and services, supports this spiritual journey and encourages deep and wide thinking. While our Christian approach is prominent, your child will also gain knowledge and respect for other faiths and belief systems, engaging with them through exploration and debate.

At St Peter's Collegiate Academy, we prioritise character formation, a key purpose of the Church of England. Our staff, acting as form tutors, class teachers, mentors, and coaches, help develop students' values and virtues, essential for building character. By providing a well-rounded education, we prepare children to become active, responsible members of society.

Theological underpinning; process and rationale

To ensure our vision was theologically underpinned senior leaders of the academy underwent focused training with the Lichfield Diocese and worked closely with our Christian Distinctiveness adviser Louisa Harrop. After reading widely we selected 1 Peter 4:8 because it embodies our three core values of service, respect and aspiration. Working with all stakeholders including governors everyone agreed that an academy with love at its foundation allowed students and adults to act inclusively, building mutually respectful relationships and to fulfil their God-given potential.

After selecting our scripture our students were surveyed to identify complementary virtue pairs for each of the academy values. These were also shared with staff to ensure they could provide some feedback regarding their preferences. All the information was collated and presented to the local academy committee before the infographic was designed. We chose a flower as a metaphor for flourishing, each of the inner petals is a value with the complimentary virtues outside. The branches are links to the trust's strategic vision; flourishing students, flourishing adults and flourishing academies.

Our values have also been linked to scripture in the bible to act as a starting point for collective worship and inform discussion. Our students encounter the bible in RE but at St Peter’s Collegiate Academy, it is important they also see and hear scripture through acts of collective worship and around our academy site. The selection of the scripture was completed with the local academy committee, allowing a range of viewpoints to be considered, including foundation governors who reviewed whether the scripture both reflected the history of our academy and its future strategic direction. Being able to support our strategic vision for the academy with teachings from Jesus Christ allows us to remain focused on what is truly important, providing an edifying learning experience which unlocks students’ God-given potential.

 

Academy prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to grow in knowledge and wisdom today and learn to love you with all that I am. 

To serve, rather than think only of myself;

To show respect, rather than resentment;

To listen, rather than speak over others;

To offer compassion to all, rather than a few;

To live life to the fullest with Jesus at the centre, that by your Holy Spirit, I may truly love others earnestly, and know that doing things your way is worth the effort.

Amen