Report Template (With Prompts)

Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) Report

St Andrew’s Church of England Infant School
High Street, Great Linford, Milton Keynes, MK14 5AX
Current SIAMS inspection grade / Satisfactory
Diocese / Oxford
Previous SIAMS inspection grade / Good
Local authority / Milton Keynes
Name of federation / The St Andrew’s and Sherington Village Church Schools Partnership
Date of inspection / 7 March 2017
Date of last inspection / September 2011
Type of school and unique reference number / Voluntary Controlled 110443
Executive Headteacher / Joanna Orbell (Interim)
Inspector’s name and number / Liz Youngman 465
School context
St Andrew’s Church of England Infant School is a very small school of 35 pupils. The majority of pupils are White British and a very small number have English as an additional language. Few children have special educational needs or a disability. A small number qualify for additional funding known as pupil premium. The school has experienced an unsettled period in staffing. An Interim Executive Headteacher has been in post since June 2016 and a permanent leadership solution is being considered by governors. The parish church has been in interregnum for two years but a new priest has very recently taken up his post.
The distinctiveness and effectiveness of St Andrew’s Infant School as a Church of England school are satisfactory

There are some strong links with the local church and community that enhance the curriculum and the educational experience of learners.
Previous underachievement of learners is being tackled by the current leadership and the learning needs of pupils are being more positively addressed.
The Christian character of the school is evident in the emphasis on caring and sharing and the personal development and wellbeing of learners. The distinctively Christian nature of the school’svisionis not explicit enough in its work.
There is some confusion between the purposes of religious education (RE) and collective worship in the school’s self-evaluation and planning. This limits the impact of provision in these important areas.

Areas to improve

Review the school’s vision and values to ensure that its Christian basis is more explicit and has a greater impact on the work of the school.
With diocesan advice, review the collective worship and RE policies, to ensure the purposes of each are fully understood by all staff and governors and therefore have greater impact on learners.
Increase the involvement and active participation of children in engaging acts of collective worship to enhance the worship experience for all members of the school community.
Define spiritual development and develop opportunities for it across the school day and the curriculum, to ensure opportunities are not missed for children to develop spiritually.

The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is satisfactory
at meeting the needs of all learners
This is a very caring school where there is great emphasis on teaching the children the values of friendship and respect. These values shape the relationships in school and are greatly valued by parents. This means that the personal development and wellbeing of learners, regardless of their ability or background, is paramount to all members of the school community. However, there is little evidence that learners and stakeholders are aware of the Christian basis for the values. This is because it is not made explicit in the day to day running of the school or documentation, including the website. The vision, expressed as ‘We Share We Care We Learn We Grow… Together’ is lived out by all members of the school community and is known by children. Few members of the school community can explain why this is distinctively Christian. It was developed under the previous leadership of the school and the Christian distinctiveness at its basis is unclear. The inclusive nature of the school where all are welcome means that these young children have some understanding of and respect for the diverse communities found in Britain. They have little understanding of Christianity as a multi-cultural world faith. Their behaviour is good and the school’s values inform the way it deals with attendance. This is good for the vast majority of pupils at 96.1%.
The Christian character and values of the school have some positive impact on the moral, social and cultural development of all learners but opportunities for spiritual development are limited or not prioritised during the school day. For example, the excellent opportunities given by the regular outdoor ‘Forest School’ and the themes for Early Yearschildren, do not have spiritual aspectsincluded, limiting the impact on the children.
The school has placed significant emphasis in raising the standards of attainment and progress in the important core subjects of English and maths since the interim executive headteacher took upher post. Previous underachievement is being firmly tackled and aspirations raised, ensuring the learning needs of pupils are addressed. There has been insufficient curriculum time given to RE in this period and hence the impact of religious educationon the Christian character of the school is limited. Learners express positive views about RE and are keen to explain their recent learning about the first Easter.
The impact of collective worship on the school community is satisfactory
Daily acts of collective worship are usually Biblically based and sometimes set the values of the school in a Christian context. Most members of the school community describe warmly the special services taking place in St Andrew’s Church, such as at harvest, Christmas and Easter, and how these have touched them personally. There is little evidence of investment in new resources to enable staff and children to be fully engaged in the worship. Some of the material in use supports moral and social development but is not specifically Christian. Children listen attentively to stories read from Bible story books saying, ‘We read stories because we remember God made the world’. Their active participation in the worship is limited to singing very enthusiastically and listening well to prayers. There is little opportunity for times of reflection for all, including those of other faith or no faith. This limits the development of their personal spirituality as the prayers are often adult led and read from a book. There are no special spaces in the school where children can pause and reflect during the school day. Children say they would like to have this opportunity and one child suggested an outside space that they could use to have a ‘quiet think’.
Children gain an understanding of the life of Jesus Christ through the worship. Some older ones also show a Christian understanding of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, explaining each and concluding, ‘the Holy Spirit looks after you and is all around the world‘.
There are some opportunities for children to be involved in the planning, leadership and evaluation of collective worship but the majority of the worship is adult led and planned. Children say they would like the opportunity to lead more often as they do in special services. Evaluation of worship by Foundation Governors is carried out and comments noted from children but these have limited impact on improvements. Development work, including some with the diocese, has concentrated on academic areas recently. This has meant a lack of focus on spiritual development. The collective worship policy and practice is not sufficiently in line with Anglican teaching and traditions. For example, it contains references to stories from other faiths and has an over-reliance on moral material.
The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the school as a church school is satisfactory
Recent changes in leadership and staffing at the schoolhave meant a lack of a strong focus on the Christian character of the school. However, there has been a concerted effort to improve the effectiveness of the school in the last year, driven by the interim executive headteacher. The pupils’ standards of achievement are improving to be more in line with national standards following a dip in recent years. The vision for the school was developed by the previous headteacher and its Christian basis is not owned and understood by the current leadership or by stakeholders. The values found within it are lived out in the day to day running of the school. The focus on children’s wellbeing and teaching of values, such as kindness, means that relationships in school are very positive. One child enthusiastically asserted that, ‘this whole school is a massive family and God is here for us’.
Since Ofsted judged the school to ‘require improvement’ in April 2016, governors’ meetings have not focused on the Christian character or development of the school as a church school. Foundation governors have continued to monitor practice as a church school but this has not led to significant changes. The school’s self-evaluation is limited and confuses the purposes of worship and RE. Leaders including governors articulate the school’s priority as a distinctive and effective church school but this has not led to significant improvements to the Christian character. There is currently no specific written strategic plan for development as a church school. Leaders have begun to prepare for future leadership across church schools through the informal induction of new staff to this very small church school.
The school does not take up the support of the diocese sufficiently in order to develop strongly as a church school. RE policy and practice is not currently compliant with the Church of England’s RE Statement of Entitlement. There is strong evidence that the foci for development from the previous inspection were implemented in the period following the inspection and had some impact but this has not been sustained more recently. Arrangements for religious education and collective worship just meet statutory requirements.
The partnership with St Andrew’s Church has been maintained during a long period without a permanent Anglican parish priest through the regular services and other visits, such as storytelling sessions in church. Other partnerships with the community include invaluable opportunities for the children to explore the outdoors in ’Forest School’through the use of thewoodland of a local landowner in the village. Work with the federation of church infant schools and the interim executive headteacher’s non-church early years school has supported improvements in teaching and learning in English and maths and raised teachers’ aspirations. Parents are supportive of the school and its values, some particularly valuing its support and care for children with additional needs or those new to the area.

SIAMS report March 2017 St Andrew’s Church of England Infant School Great Linford MK14 5AX