Ethos & Vision
The Governors and staff of Lowton Church of England High School are committed to the provision of a high-quality education in a Christian context. We aim to provide a school where we can live out our ethos of Caring, Learning and Succeeding on a daily basis and let our light shine. At the heart of the commitment is the notion of the uniqueness and infinite worth of the individual, that every person is valuable in the eyes of God and that they are, indeed, the lights of the world.
School mission
A mission-led school, defined and driven by our Christian values, in our local community for our local community, to provide an exceptional education to prepare our students spiritually, socially and academically for life.
School aim
The overarching aim to our education for each child is summed up in verses 14-16 in Chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel.
'You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.'
This verse speaks of the pride we aim to instil in young people because of what they achieve, the people they become known as and the contribution they make to society. This is defined through our curriculum principles.
The verse speaks to the collective pride we take in the quality of the education we provide – our actions and outcomes will speak for themselves. Our approach is one of servanthood, bringing glory to God in all we do.
School values
Our Christian ethos is expressed through caring, learning and succeeding. These three words define our approach and provide the framework for all that we provide for our students as outlined in our curriculum principles.
To ensure we deliver on our mission, aims and values, we test all we do ‘through the lens of a student’ to make sure that what we provide and are putting in place for each individual gives them the best possible start in life and sets them up for future success.
Curriculum principles
The three underpinning principles of our curriculum aim to ensure spiritual, social and academic development of all students:
- Academic rigour through subject disciplines leading to high currency outcomes.
- Nurturing and development of each individual to enable them to flourish, thrive and succeed socially and spiritually.
- Social action to build character, understanding, empathy and practical action to better the lives of others, to do what is right for our society and to tackle injustice as part of living out the values of the Gospel.
The importance of teaching knowledge
We believe that knowledge acquisition is taught and learnt through application. It should not be capped for any individual. In our curriculum, knowledge is taught through two key domains:
- The domain of substantive knowledge: explicit teaching of the facts, substance and key concepts of a subject taught through subject disciplines.
- The domain of disciplinary knowledge: the skills that allow for substantive knowledge to be applied such as experimentation, creativity, debating, performance, evaluation, synthesis and application of subject knowledge to new and different contexts.