Christian Ethos

The Fulham Boys School is a Church of England school built upon the Christian faith and Christian principles.

The Christian ethos is at the heart of The Fulham Boys School. It is one of our three ‘pillars’ (faith, boys, enterprise) and has an impact on everything we do.

The role and vision of the Christian ethos can be summarised in five basic points:

  • Everyone will have regular and varied opportunities to learn about the main beliefs of Christianity and the claims of Jesus Christ.
  • Everyone will have the opportunity and will be encouraged to think and ask questions about these beliefs and claims. Everyone will be able to give their own view in response, whatever that may be.
  • Everyone will learn about Christian values, as described in the Bible, demonstrated perfectly by Jesus Christ and reflecting God’s character. We will try to follow them as a community in everything we do.
  • The Christian ethos will have an impact on every area of school life, be that assemblies, form times, lessons, break and lunchtimes, sports afternoons or any other time. It will have an impact on learning, behaviour, pastoral care and pupil and staff wellbeing
  • Boys who would identify themselves as Christians are helped to grow in their faith.

The Chaplain (Mr Brown) leads on the Christian ethos in the school; all staff support and are involved in embedding it.

The School Prayer

Almighty God,
We thank you for creating this wonderful world,
For the gifts and abilities you’ve given each of us,
And the opportunity we have to learn and to grow.
Please work through the power of your Spirit,
Developing in us the Christian values shown perfectly in your Son, Jesus Christ.
Make us enterprising in all we do,
Moulding us into people of character who will make a positive contribution to society.
Give us attentive ears to listen, willing hearts to learn, and ready wills to obey.
And show us more of the truth about your glorious Son: his life, death, resurrection, reign and relevance.
In his name we pray,

Amen

Christian Values

FBS strives to be a community shaped by Christian values and characteristics that reflect the character of God and the perfect example of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible.  We use 6 key Christian values as a foundation for teaching the boys about Christian character and development, focusing on one each half-term. 

FBS strives to be a community shaped by Christian values and characteristics.  We therefore use a list of Christian values as a foundation for teaching the boys about Christian character and development.

Promoting and explain Christian values around the school

  • Every week has a dedicated Christian value (e.g. Welcoming in the first week). The week’s assemblies and reflection times are then linked to that Christian value.
  • Every classroom has the Christian value and enterprise skill for that week displayed in a prominent location.
  • More detailed Christian value posters are displayed in specific areas around the school – these explain the Christian values, how they point to Jesus and how they could be seen in action in FBS.
  • Teachers regularly draw attention to the Christian values in lessons (e.g. discussing service or honesty when doing peer assessment).

Staff regularly refer to the Christian values when doing follow-up to an incident of poor behaviour or in the mentoring of a boy.

Our Vision

The Fulham Boys School is a Church of England school built upon the Christian faith and Christian principles.

Four foundations:

  1. Everyone will learn about Christian values, as described in the Bible and demonstrated perfectly by Jesus Christ. We will try to follow them as a community in everything we do and as we develop good character.
  2. Everyone will have regular and varied opportunities to learn about the main beliefs of Christianity and the claims of Jesus Christ.
  3. Everyone will have the opportunity and will be encouraged to think and ask questions about these beliefs and claims. Everyone will be able to give their own view in response, whatever that may be.
  4. The Christian ethos will have an impact on every area of school life, be that assemblies, form times, lessons, break and lunchtimes, sports afternoons or any other occasion. It will have an impact on learning, behaviour, PSHCE, pastoral care and pupil and staff welfare.
Christian Unions

Each year group has its own Christian Union (CU), run by the Chaplain or another member of staff, which meet during a lunchtime. Often 10-15 boys will attend their CU where they will chat, sometimes play a game and always discuss a part of the Bible.  Over the past few years the CUs have done series on Bible books including Genesis 1-12, Exodus 1-20, Isaiah, Romans, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians and the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus. 

In addition to this we run Big Questions CUs for boys who are interested in finding out more about Christianity – who have burning questions and are happy to debate. We have used SOUL, Uncover, Identity and Youth Alpha courses for these sessions.  

There are a number of CU trips that happen during the year, including to youth events such as Sorted and REBOOT. Any boys, whatever their background or beliefs, are welcome to attend CU.

CU boys doing a Q&A with the former Bishop of Oxford.
Lunchtime CUs in action
School Prayer Meeting

Each term there is a school prayer meeting where we meet to pray for the needs of our school community.  Staff, parents and governors are all welcome to attend. 

There is also a fortnightly parents prayer meeting that meets at the school on a Tuesday morning. Please contact the Chaplain if you would like more information and would like to be put in touch with the parents who coordinate it.

 

Church Links

Links with Local Churches

FBS is delighted to have good relationships with a number of local churches, both Anglican and from other denominations, including:

  • All Saints (CofE), Fulham
  • Hungarian Reformed Church, Fulham
  • Holy Trinty (CofE), Brompton
  • St Andrew’s, Fulham Fields
  • St Peter’s (CofE), Fulham
  • St Dionis’ (CofE), Parson Green
  • St Paul`s (CofE), Hammersmith
  • St Matthew’s (CofE), Fulham
  • St Simon’s (CofE), Shepherds Bush
  • Twynholm Baptist, Fulham
  • Trinity West, Shepherds Bush
  • The Globe Church

The leaders of these churches often come in to take assemblies and are involved with the school in other ways.

Church Services

Five times a year the whole school community attends a church service at one of our local churches.  These services are organised and led by the Chaplain with the involvement of local clergy, staff, boys and governors.

  • Start of Year Service (September)
  • Remembrance Day (November)
  • Carol Service (December)
  • Easter Service (March/April)
  • End of Year Service (June/July)

British Values

At The Fulham Boys School governors, school leaders, staff and boys are all expected to give due regard to sustaining and promoting British values. We do this primarily through the language of our three ‘pillars’ – faith, boys and enterprise – rather than regularly using the specific language of ‘British values’. However, we are confident that our promotion of these fundamental values is fully embedded throughout the school and allows boys to develop into well-rounded members of British and global society who will make a positive contribution in their current and future lives.

We promote the British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We do this in a wide range of ways, including (but not limited to) our Christian values, enterprise skills, the standards and manners we expect from boys, weekly PSHCE lessons for all boys, PSHCE afternoons, the assembly programme, the RE, History and Geography curricula, our approach to student leadership, Co-Curricular activities, mock elections, debate clubs, involvement in social enterprise and charities, events such as the annual International Food Market and Remembrance Services, and close links with the Metropolitan Police and other local authorities.

These elements overlap with boys’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development while at the school. Our approach acknowledges, additionally, that these values – whilst often advocated within British public life and evident in many aspects of British political and social history – are universal rather than uniquely British.