Christian Distinctiveness

At Saint Aidan’s, we believe that the school acts as a Christian beacon shining brightly in the Over Wyre area and beyond.

Our school environment reminds us of our role as a church school. As you enter the reception, you are met by a mural that depicts not only our school’s chosen scripture verse, ‘That they might have life and have it in all its fullness’ (John 10:10) but also images of those words in action. Each classroom features a cross made by the students and Saint Aidan’s picture takes pride of place at the top of the main stairs. The entrance to each block contains a verse of scripture, regularly changed, whilst the corridors display images of Christian symbols and scenes from our worship. Our school chapel provides a base for worship activities whilst the Hall and Lecture Theatre, both used for collective worship, contain banners reminding us of Christ’s teachings. Our outside worship area and Prayer Walk make great use of our beautiful rural surroundings, offering external worship spaces (when weather permits!)

Worship is an integral part of our daily school life. Students participate in a variety of worship each morning. Worship is sometimes led by visiting speakers, including local clergy, Good News For Everyone and our link Missionaries. Please see the separate information section on Worship for further details.

Our governing body includes members of the local Anglican clergy as well as members selected from the local parishes. These governors play an active part in the decision making of the school and are regular visitors to worship as well as maintaining designated links with specific areas of school life.

The Over Wyre area that makes up the school’s immediate vicinity is home to five separate parishes, Preesall and Knott End, Pilling, Out Rawcliffe, Hambleton and Stalmine. Close ties are maintained with all five, but especially with St. Oswald’s, Preesall, our nearest church. Students attend services at specific times in the year. We also donate food to the church food banks. Members of the clergy from the local churches often preside at our end of term Eucharist and the holding of smaller services in the Chapel after school, has been made possible by the support of the local churches.

We are blessed by excellent links with our local Church of England primary schools. The schools enjoy a number of taster days during Years 5 and 6, as well as using our facilities for sport, music, drama and science at other times on an ad hoc basis. We are delighted to be able to open up our doors to our fellow church schools, both in Over Wyre and beyond. Our Staff Members have also visited these church feeder schools to present worship, specialist lessons and even a Victorian Day!

As a Christian organisation, we are very aware of our role in helping and supporting the local, national and international communities through our charity work. Each house supports a particular charity, recent examples include Longview RSPCA, Shelter Box, Trinity Hospital and Happy House. As a school, we also support the work of Vincent House and the Trussell Trust for the Homeless through our Harvest boxes and the British Legion. Our termly non-uniform days are also used to support national initiatives such as Comic and Sport Relief.

We are conscious that, as the largest organisation in the Over Wyre district, we have a responsibility to our local community. In recent years, the local Fire Cadets unit was born out of Saint Aidan’s whilst, through our Archbishop of York scheme, we have cleaned the beaches at Knott End. Our Community Action Team cleared the overgrown areas of the Pilling picnic site and we promote and support the work of the district and parish councils for holiday time activities for young people. Our ‘Active Christian Ethics’ group continue this excellent community service through awareness and fund raising for issues close to their hearts and faith.