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Faith. Learning. Care. Service. Community. 

These are the values which underpin everything we do at St Stephen’s School, and the Duncraig Primary team are bringing them to life, term by term in 2024. 

Deputy Head of Primary, Mr Andrew Johnston, explains. 

“We wanted to more explicitly connect to the core values of our school,” said Andrew. “We are incredibly proud that these values are so well embedded into who we are and what we do, however, we recognised the importance of being more intentional about naming them and exploring what they mean and why they are so important.” 

“We often describe these values as “pillars” because they underpin all that we do and are fundamental to our purpose and identity. So, we decided to run a “pillar day” each term where we focus on every value in turn”.  

 In Term 1, the focus was naturally on ‘Faith’ during Easter week, and students experienced a day immersed in the Easter story from Palm Sunday to Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

Emily Schneider, who is in Year 6 and a Carana House Captain enjoyed the first pillar day.  

“We had fun learning about the Easter story and what happened,” said Emily. “My favourite thing was when we acted out Palm Sunday. I learnt that even though Jesus was a king, he was crucified on a cross. This should inspire us to be humble and never lose hope because Jesus has planned everything and he has gone through much worse times than us.” 

Madeline Rick, a Year 6 Alethea House Captain, also learnt some poignant lessons through the many activities.  

“My favourite thing was making the crosses with wool. I liked it because the finished product was like a token of remembrance reminding me of the fun I had learning while at the same time. One thing I learned was that Jesus’ life was full of sorrow. He spent his whole life dedicated to fixing something that we caused and couldn’t fix without him dying on the cross for us.”

Two of our Year 6 House Captains, Emily Schneider (left) and Madeline Rick.

Lisa Kerspien, our Learning Enrichment teacher saw first-hand the value of students from Years 3 to 6 spending the day together focussing on faith. 

 “Our school community was able to literally walk in Jesus’ footsteps following the passion week story, encompassing Palm Sunday through to the Resurrection. The stations catered to students of all levels of ability both visually and kinaesthetically. It was wonderful to have multi aged groups moving through the stations helping each other in a variety of ways. Though they may have heard the Easter story before this presentation allowed them to experience it at a deeper level,” said Lisa. 

 “Events such as these are a clear expression of why we do what we do and add another dimension to our learning. They embody our school motto, ‘Serve God. Serve one another’ thus making a tangible action-based connection to our overarching values and beliefs.  

For Claire Moore, who teaches Year 5, the Faith pillar day was all about enabling students to make a personal connection to the Easter story. 

“The Easter immersion experience provided students with a profound opportunity to connect with the values of humility, service, and sacrifice. Through hands-on activities such as washing the disciples’ feet, commemorating the Last Supper, observing Palm Sunday, and even symbolically creating a keepsake representing the main symbol of Easter – the cross – students were able to deepen their understanding of selflessness, compassion, and faith.” 

Coming up in Week 10 of Term 2, the focus will be on the value of ‘Care’, when students and staff will be treated to a Wellbeing Day. 

“Here we will be learning about the importance of self-care and wellbeing and will give the students an opportunity to explore the different ways in which they can look after their wellbeing,” said Andrew Johnston.It’s sure to be a wonderful, nurturing and educational experience with activities ranging from breath work to making healthy food, journalling, exercise and spending time in nature.”