National Society Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools Report
St George’s Semington Church of England Primary School
Pound Lane
Semington
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 6LP
Diocese: Salisbury
Local Authority: Wiltshire County Council
Date of inspection: Tuesday 12th January 2010
Date of last inspection: 22nd September 2006
School’s unique reference number: 126353
Headteacher: Mrs Laura Almond
Inspector’s name and number: Julian Thompson NS No.114
School context
St George’s Church of England Primary School is a three-class primary school serving the village of Semington and some families from Trowbridge. The main school building houses the school hall and the reception class. Two mobile classrooms for older children are situated across the playground. There are good outdoor areas for play and sport and a quiet garden area. The Headteacher has been at the school for two years.
The distinctiveness and effectiveness of St George’s Semington Church of England Primary School are good.
St Georges Church of England V.A. Primary School is a good Church School. Christian values are evident in the high quality relationships and the safe and welcoming environment which the school provides for all its children and families. An effective partnership between the school and the local church and its clergy is providing important opportunities to review and develop its Christian vision.
Established strengths
·  There is a good relationship between the local clergy, church community and the school
·  The quality of personal and social education and the way it reflects the Christian values of the school.
Focus for development
·  To ensure effective ownership involving the whole school community in the development of the overarching Christian vision for the school
·  To improve the quality of the school’s self evaluation as a church school
·  To evaluate the impact of collective worship on the whole school community in order to share good practice and ensure greater consistency.
The school through its distinctive Christian character is good at meeting the needs of all its learners.
A significant number of children say how the school’s Christian values and teaching affect their daily life and relationships. For example, one child said “Jesus was perfect and we try to follow in his footsteps”. Another pupil explained, “Teachers give us examples from the Bible to help us to get on better”. The good relationships and family ethos are evident in the children’s thoughtful behaviour and concern for each other regardless of their age or other differences. The school uses guidance from the Diocese to help teachers include learning about values and relationships in many subjects. This ensures that the whole school focuses together on appropriate Christian values which are introduced and reinforced by the staff during collective worship time. Many children are clear about how Christian teachings support their responsibilities in their local community and further afield. One pupil explained, “Jesus was a giving person, and that’s why we give”. The school prepares harvest baskets which the children take to some residents of the village. Children are also involved in the Samaritans Purse shoe box appeal to help children abroad at Christmas time. The school works well to give support and encouragement to all its pupils. It is particularly aware of the needs of those children and families who may join the school after the start of their primary years and stay in the village for limited period. Links with parents and the wider community are good and have developed further under the leadership of the current headteacher. Parents feel that the Head is accessible and works quickly to resolve difficulties and any concerns they have. Religious Education makes an effective contribution to the attitudes, behaviour and spiritual development of the children. RE lessons provide good opportunities to reflect and discuss their feelings. For example, in the lesson for younger children in which they practised giving compliments to each other when their teacher linked this with the friendship between Jesus and his Disciples. Also, the older children’s advent prayer calendar in which daily gifts were replaced by prayers written by the children.
The impact of collective worship on the school community is good
Children are well behaved and engaged during collective worship. They recognise the strong sense of a sharing community which is created. Christian visitors regularly lead collective worship and the children speak of how much they enjoy the informality and opportunities to take part which these times often bring. Worship is well planned taking account of the Church year and using guidance from the Diocesan Values resource. National materials to support children’s social and emotional development are also used appropriately. Worship often influences day to day actions in the school because the themes and stories introduced are reinforced by the teachers in classroom work. Good use is made of a focus table with cross, candle and pictures to reflect the theme. Attractive displays in the hall show how children’s work and behaviour can reinforce the school’s aims and values. The collective worship observed during the inspection and led by the vicar was outstanding. It gave opportunities for spiritual development for everyone present. He invited the school to think about the Epiphany story in terms of “Wow” moments in their own lives. A reflective and thoughtful atmosphere was created by well matched questions and very effective use of visual material to help focus the children’s thinking. Prayers were carefully planned and structured and the children joined in enthusiastically with singing, accompanied by guitar. The children know the Lord’s Prayer as well as their own school prayer and both of these are displayed in classrooms and around the school. Collective worship also uses some appropriate forms of Anglican liturgy. For example, the invitation and responses which the children use to begin and end collective worship times. Although the school ensures clear planning and evaluation by those who lead collective worship, it has yet to involve pupils and other stakeholders in regularly evaluating its impact.
The school makes very good use of St George’s Church. Children and their families visit regularly to celebrate festivals and for other occasions such as the annual Leavers’ Service. Many children said how much they enjoy these visits, one commented, “St Georges is very peaceful and a good place for reflecting”.
The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the school as a church school is satisfactory
Although some school information makes reference to its Christian foundation, the school prospectus, policies for behaviour and personal social development and the web site are not explicit enough about how a Christian ethos affects the school’s aims and values. The school’s leaders have begun the process of reviewing and consulting about this and a new vision statement has been drafted which they hope will be adopted soon. Despite this lack of clearly published information children and their families can and do speak positively about how the Church connection affects the school’s work. One parent spoke of their child being “Ready to talk about the big questions”. Another reported that the school’s Christian values were, “Up front, but not in your face”. Leaders have made good progress improving resources for collective worship but other areas for development arising from the last SIAS inspection have not yet been completed. These include involving the school community in discussions about the school’s church foundation and raising the church profile of the school. The headteacher and governors work hard and some self evaluation has taken place but this is not yet systematic or fully up to date. As a result the school is still developing its priorities for further development as a church school. This work has yet to involve children staff and families. At present there is a vacancy for a foundation governor. To some extent this is limiting the capacity of the governing body to move forward rapidly in all aspects of their church school responsibilities. There is a good partnership between the church and school. The vicar is actively committed to the school and is working closely with the headteacher. Together they are leading the review of the school’s vision and values. The church community also support the school well by regular prayer and in other ways; for example, by providing a Bible for every child leaving the school in Year 6. The school in turn contributes to the local church and parish magazine and provides a venue for church events such as the Fete. School leaders have also developed effective work with Christians from other organisations which have brought benefits to the school such as a weekly Christian Kids Club.

SIAS report January 12th 2010 St George’s Semington Church of England Primary School Wiltshire BA14 6LP