Church

The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is outstanding at meeting the needs of all learners.

High Ham Church of England Primary School is an inclusive, warm and welcoming Christian community. An ethos statement and set of core values, rooted in Christian teaching with God’s love at its heart are integral to the whole life of the school. The school’s ethos is very effective in promoting a strong sense of Christian fellowship by its emphasis on the word ‘together’. This, in turn, has created a happy and secure environment where each and every child is cherished and relationships are of the highest quality.

We actively take part in our local Church services and work closely with Rev.Jess Pitman who is also a school governor.

There are regular school services planned in church, which everyone is welcome to attend.

We have a SIAMs team of governors who meet regularly to ensure that we are meeting the criteria needed for the SIAMS inspections.

During the 2018/9 academic year, we reviewed our school strapline, ethos statment, ethos and values and designed a new one which was led by Rev. Jess Pitman as well as our work with the Diocese which also involved all stakeholders.This is now an integral part of our school and reflects the ethos and vision on which we have built our curriculum. Our whole school display relating to the ethos is in the main entrance of the school.

DISCOVERING,  LEARNING, BELIEVING TOGETHER

Discovering, Learning, Believing Together

At High Ham we encourage everyone to flourish, believing in themselves and others,

growing in wisdom and knowledge, discovering the joy of learning,

the comfort of friendship and the wonder of God’s world

JOHN 15.5-17

 “I am the true vine, my father is the gardener, and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…

 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for

one’s friends and I have called you friends…You did not choose me, but I chose you so that you might bear

 much fruit—fruit that will last—This is my command: Love one another.

             VALUES  ‘fruit that will last  ‘

            THANKFULNESS

             FRIENDSHIP

             HOPE

             JOY

             COURAGE

            CREATIVITY

           all rooted in  WISDOM and LOVE

2020/21: We are in the process of collating evidence regarding our six school values and have a focus each half term. When we do these we will add to the links below so you can click and look at some of the types of activities that we do throughout the year when we are focusing on each value. 

Thankfulness    Friendship  (2 links)   Joy    Courage    Hope    Creativity

In addition throughout the year, teachers collate evidence across the seven strands of the SIAMS inspection and the links can be found below (the information has come from their twitter accounts which all staff regularly keep up to date).

Strand 1: Vision and Leadership  #HHSIAMS1

Strand 2: Wisdom, Knowledge and Skills #HHSIAMS2

Strand 3: Character Development: Hope, Aspiration and Courageous Advocacy #HHSIAMS3

Strand 4: Community and Living Well Together #HHSIAMS4

Strand 5: Dignity and Respect   #HHSIAMS5

Strand 6: The impact of collective worship  #HHSIAMS6

Strand 7: The effectiveness of religious education #HHSIAMS7

2020/21 Academic Year 

During this year we need to hold many of our usual Church activities online. Throughout the year we will need to evaluate as things change.

Harvest: October 2020 Rev. Jess Pitman and Rev.  James Bell-Winfrow have put together a presentation with support from the whole of the school which brings together thanksgiving (our school value this term) and the blessing of Harvest.

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Remembrance 2020: We held a competition and collated in our remembrance work in a short video and file.

Whole School Community

We work hard to ensure all we do is underpinned by the school ethos. In the recent Covid-19 pandemic when schools were closed we gathered photographs from all the children at regular intervals and encouraged them to take part in challenges to keep the  sense of community alive. Here are just a few examples:

​End of 2020 Review (.MOV)

High Ham School Community remembers our fathers on ‘Father’s Day 2020’​

High Ham School Community celebrates VE day

High Ham School Community celebrates Easter weekend​ (.MOV)

High Ham School Community plays ‘pass it on’ ​

This is a plaque that is on the wall of the old school house.

Ut pia sit, studius que vacet generosaivvent juventus – Hanc Adrianus Schaell sustinet aere scholam 1598

In order that noble youth may be dutiful and may have leisure for study Adrian Schaell built (keeps up) the school with his money 1598

Adrian Schaell was rector from 1570 – 1599.