Our School Vision

Working together, Achieving together

At Stanford in the Vale CE Primary School, we aim for everybody to flourish in a loving community by 'working together to achieve together', with all achieving their individual potential to be the best they can be through the values of love, hope and community.

Our vision is linked to the story of Nehemiah and the Building of the Wall (Nehemiah 3:1-32), and was picked because it clearly shows the significance of our key values of Love, Hope and Community.

Biblical Teaching (Nehemiah 3: 1-32 Building of the wall)

Nehemiah lived in the city of Susa and worked in King Artaxerxes' palace. He was a special helper to the king. Everyday Nehemiah faithfully served the King.

One day, Nehemiah's brother came to visit. He told Nehemiah some sad news about the city of Jerusalem where their family had once lived. His brother said, “The wall and gates surrounding the city are all fallen down. The people are in trouble.”

This news troubled Nehemiah. He wanted to help, but he didn't know how—so he prayed and asked God what he should do.

Later, when Nehemiah was serving King Artaxerxes, the king noticed that Nehemiah looked sad. He asked Nehemiah why he was so sad. Nehemiah told the king, “The city where my people lived has been destroyed and the gates are torn down.”

The king asked Nehemiah what he wanted to do. Nehemiah prayed and asked God what to say to the king. Then he said, “Please let me go home and rebuild Jerusalem's wall and gates.” The king wanted to help Nehemiah, so he allowed him to go to Jerusalem to work to repair the city. He even helped Nehemiah get the lumber he would need.

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he rode around the city to see what needed to be done. Then he told the people he had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild its wall and gates. He also told them he would need lots of help.

People from all over helped with this huge building project. Imagine it with me. “Bang! Bang! Bang!” went the hammers. “Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!” went the saws. The people worked hard, and in 52 days the wall and gates were finished. The people celebrated and worshiped God because now they had a secure wall and strong gates around their city.

Nehemiah was thankful that God had used him to help do this important work.

Anyone seeing the plans of Jerusalem then, or now, would recognise what a huge undertaking it would have been to repair the gates and the walls. However, it is recorded that Nehemiah, and his workmen and women, completed the task in just 52 days! The reason they were able to do this is that each member was responsible for a specific task, which they were skilled in, and each was committed to following out their bit, using their best endeavours, strengths, and skills to perform their particular task, thereby enabling the whole project to be achieved in 52 days by working together.

The story of Nehemiah has huge lessons in leadership and collaboration. It also teaches us lessons about ensuring people are treated fairly and, that whatever gifts our children and community members may have individually, we need to share our skills and talents for the common good – to work together and achieve together!