Vision

In Spring 2025, Arty Party artists came to Chevening to host three days of workshops, involving all the children in the school! The time working with the artists was very special. With paint, paper and paste, a 3-D sculpture was created for the school hall, depicting both mustard seed and large tree, with birds perched in its branches. The Mustard Seed vision was brought to life! 

We are very grateful to our PTFA for funding this initiative and for helping us achieve our aim of having a large-scale visual representation of our Biblical Vision. Please admire our vision installation when you next visit Chevening!

Lucy Farfort's book, "In Our Hands", was a focal point for whole school learning in autumn 2023. As Chevening got to grips with the central themes, it was clear that there were strong parallels with our Mustard Seed Vision; in Lucy's story, the children overcome the loss of colour and joy by planting seeds of hope that inspire connection and a re-growth of joyful colour for a brighter future.

We made contact with Lucy and commissioned her to produce some artwork with us and for us, to represent our Mustard Seed vision. By spring 2024, we were excited to receive our commission and to begin to use it to remind everyone about  being True,  Kind and Thoughtful and Inclusive in all we do.

Spirituality

At Chevening, we understand that spirituality threads through all aspects of our lives.

We believe that we all have the capacity for spiritual growth through: self-awareness, empathy towards others, use of our imagination and creativity and our ability as humans to reflect on our daily lives.

We base our understanding of spirituality on the definition provided by Brenne Brown:

“Spirituality is recognising and celebrating that we are all inextricably linked to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.”

Throughout their time at Chevening, children and adults will have the opportunity for both individual and shared spiritual experiences, which will challenge and expand their understanding of the world around them. They will be encouraged to be reflective of beliefs and perspectives on life, exploring what this might mean to them both personally and for others. Learning how the way that they respond to these experiences, shapes their lives and helps them to develop knowledge of, and respect for, different people’s faith, feelings and values.

Spirituality photos

Christian Values

Chevening's Christian Values were established back in 2017, by the then children, staff and parents. Since then, the eight values have formed a central approach to school life; even the youngest children soon become familiar with them.

For 2024-25, each class took responsibility for leading a special Act of Worship on one value (or two!) for the rest of the school, as well as their own parents. Taking this responsibility seriously, the classes took it in turn to prepare songs, prayers, stories, reflections, drama and artwork around their value theme, inviting those gathered to participate individually and collectively.

The Governors' contribution to this year-long project was to offer funding for a herbaceous or perennial plant, linked to each value, to help upgrade the school's Reflective Garden.  Given the dry and hot weather conditions, planting has been postponed until the autumn, so that the new plants can, hopefully, enjoy some rain to help them become established.