Name of school:Mellis CEVCP School

URN:

Date of the last Section 48 inspection:February 2014

SCHOOL CONTEXT

This is an opportunity for you to provide a few bullet points to explain the context of your school.

[You may wish to comment on: School status (including any recent change in status and funding agreement) NOR; social and economic circumstances; staffing changes; pupils with disabilities/learning difficulties etc.]

  • Ages 4 – 11 Primary. 7 classes, NOR – 162, Rural catchment.
  • Serves villages of Mellis, Yaxley and small enclave around the Bull Auberge at Thornham. 55% Out of Catchment.
  • Current SIAS – Outstanding.
  • Socio Economic – Cross-section , but predominantly middle class.
  • School is over-subscribed and regular intake of children at various points after the Reception year.
  • Stable staffing, although over the years there has been significant influx of new staff to accommodate a school that has grown from 3 classes to 7 classes in a short period of time.
  • Significant building works and enlargement of the school’s outside area has taken place.
  • Parents heavily involved in the school both in terms of educational support in the classrooms and in terms of developing the buildings and grounds.

THE VISION AND VALUES OF THE SCHOOL

[You may wish to draw upon or include the school mission statement, values statement or school aims as agreed by the school community.]

THE PHILOSOPHY AND AIMS OF THE SCHOOL
We live in a sophisticated society which makes unprecedented demands upon all its citizens. It is the duty of all schools to prepare the children in their care to become responsible successful and confident participants.
Independent, Self-Motivated Learners with a desire to succeed!
We intend to achieve this goal by ensuring that all our children reach their full potential. The diversity of meaningful experience is promoted within a deliberate framework which is epitomised by challenge, freedom, responsibility, control, respect and success. Our working environment is one that offers security, leading to a responsible independence. It is designed to enable children to find success through encouragement, self-motivation and achievement. The Spiritual Development of each child will be recognised as an integral part of their overall development. These qualities, together with home support and the comradeship of school life, should ensure a happy and well balanced child.
The school will be a place where respect for others and sensitive human relationships are promoted, and awareness of “self” and “other” increased. The school curriculum will be broad based and balanced to give due consideration to knowledge, skills and attitudes within agreed guidelines. Our school will be a place where initiative is rewarded and children are encouraged to become the agents of their own learning. The pupils’ activities will show progression and will be carefully monitored to ensure that individual needs are met. Every opportunity will be made to extend links between school, parents, and the community we serve.
Our school is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled School and is proud of its close working relationship with the Church of England, and in particular with the local parish churches and our Rector. Our morning assemblies reflect the broad traditions of the Church of England and are based on Christianity. The Easter, Harvest and Christmas Carol Service take place in either Yaxley or Mellis Church and members of both local communities are welcome to join us. We have in recent years included three Mid Term Service at Mellis Church.
To be Our Best

SUMMARY

In about 50 words please summarise the distinctiveness and effectiveness of your school as a church school.

  • Assembly is based solely on Christian Values and relies heavily on ‘Values for Life’.
  • Assemblies, PSHE, playground behaviour, classroom practices promote mutual support for one another.
  • The 17 Christian Values of V. for L. are celebrated in the Golden Book – Mellis school based reward scheme.
  • Grace takes place before all meals and prayers at the conclusion of each day.
  • School participates in 6 major services a year at our local parish churches.
  • Children participate in three Sunday services per year.
  • All classrooms have either Christian symbols or values displayed as part of their classroom ethos.

Date: February 2016

PROGRESS IN ADDRESSING THE FOCUS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE PREVIOUS INSPECTION
Schools may wish to add further points if required
Focus for development 1:
Continuing to refine the school’s Christian ethos further through the expression of its values.
Action taken / Impact
  1. Values for Life programme of assemblies.
  1. Symbols in the classrooms.
  1. Quiet space with a cross for prayer and/or contemplation.
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  1. Links perfectly with our objective that Church Schools should be an expression of these values through a Christian ethos. Links to ‘Golden Book’. This brings Christian ethos and Collective Worship into the realms of ‘valued’ by our children and staff.
  1. Children readily link the symbols to the Christian faith and remind them of what they do should be right.
  1. This is just now being put in place following creation of the library. Intention is that children will want to use the quiet place to pray or to be alone. Well supervised from the office. Also there will be a link between the quiet, solemnity and spiritual in perhaps both its Christian and non-Christian sense.

Focus for development 2:
Widening further the involvement of all stakeholders in promoting the Christian ethos of the school.
Action taken / Impact
  1. Prospective parents, when they come to view the school and at the New Parents’ Meetings are fully briefed on our church school status, expectations on the children and them. They are also given all the pluses this means for the children in terms of their spiritual and moral development together with how the church value ethos impacts on their academic development.
  1. Foundation Governors heavily engaged in developing the school Christian ethos. Three meetings this term already. as is the new vicar in an advisory capacity and in taking assemblies and school services regularly.
  1. Parent now takes a regular assembly for us once a month – Minister of Parkview Evangelical Church.
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  1. Complete acceptance of our strong Christian ethos as they have openly bought into it at conception!
  1. SEF completed and reassuringly demonstrates strides forward in recent years. Questionnaire sent to all staff on our Christian ethos evidences our progress, but also shows great support, even though the majority of our staff would not profess to be practicing Christians. Surveys were carried out with all of the children and parents which confirmed the high regard that is felt by both parents and children for the Christian ethos of the school.
  1. Monitoring of his assembly demonstrates it is in keeping with our usual assembly expectations.

Focus for development 3:
Ensuring that the Foundation Governors take a more prominent role in monitoring and evaluating the quality of Collective Worship.
Action taken / Impact
Features in School Development Plan
  1. F. Governors have met regularly on whole school Christian ethos and impact on children’s response to promotion of the ‘17 Values’.
  1. Foundation Governors have attended assemblies and church services.
  1. Encourage and develop the role of children in the creation of CW.
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  1. F. Governors have a very full understanding and evidence base for how the school is developing but have also influenced improvement throughout and continue to do so through the current questionnaire.
  1. The Foundation Governors have developed monitoring report sheets specific to monitoring CW and RE and keep an ongoing record of FG activity.
  1. The children are always participants in the CW but to fully develop them as creators of all CW is too onerous within the school curriculum but our minister oversees this and does so as often as is possible.

CORE QUESTION 1
How well does the school, through its distinctive Christian character, meet the needs of all learners?
SCHOOL SELF EVALUATION: Outstanding/Good/Satisfactory/ Inadequate
School evidence based on pupil outcomes:
Comment on:
  • Learners’ Achievement
The school has a sustained history of high expectation, hard work, self-motivation and high performance both in terms of progress and attainment. This is irrespective of ability. SEN children make sustained high quality progress and so do the G&T – see Raise, FFT, School Tracker. This is also irrespective of social class. All abilities are given equal access to further support through small group tuition both within and outside the normal school day. All success is celebrated as seen by wall target charts and the very large number of clubs run in school. Assemblies are also a time for celebration of children’s success outside the curriculum and school. There is no entry requirement for Mellis School – if there is a place then the child, irrespective of anything obtains the place.
  • Christian Values
The 17 values as illustrated in ‘Values for Life’ permeate through the school, both at child and staff level. The values held by the children in the school are held very firmly and promoted across the curriculum.
Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
PHSE is co-ordinated by Claire Mortlock, both the policy and long term plan are on the website. Curricular time is given for SMSC. There is a spiritual dimension to PHSE an example within our practice is the one assembly per week taken by Claire using the SEAL course. The head teacher is responsible for Collective Worship and in leading children’s spiritual development within the school and Claire and I work closely together here. All assemblies give opportunity for worship, reflection and prayer and whilst assemblies are Christian in their origin, we do capitalise on the moral, social and cultural opportunities that both arise and are in the planning.
  • Relationships
The relaxed relationships between staff and a willingness to ‘let your hair down’ in front of children symbolises a friendly, yet respectful approach whereby advantage is not taken. There is a closeness between the staff and the parents which is essential if we are to maximise children’s opportunities. Staff are a cohesive group of like-minded, mutually supportive personalities. There is very little hierarchy.
  • Understanding of and respect for diverse communities
The school child population tends to be white/British, although over the years we have benefited from small numbers of children from ethnic minority families including Chinese, Indian and Malay. We have only ever seen excellent relationships between ethnic minorities and the white community to the point where there was no difference. In more recent years we have had a housed Gypsy family on roll. The village community has over the years had a poor relationship with travellers who regularly stay on the Common and neither side can claim the high ground. This was an out of school problem that threatened stability within the school. This animosity, due to the siting of several caravans on the football pitch 3 years ago became reflected in the minds of the Gypsy children in school and other children in the same class. We took advice from the Gypsy/ Traveller LA adviser. The school acted as the patient intermediary in a very complex situation and it was a very difficult time for us all until the situation was satisfactorily resolved. There has been no resurgence of the situation since May 2012. We are however, always on our guard.
  • Religious Education
This is co-ordinated by XXXX. Both the very comprehensive policy and long term plan are on our website. All the major faiths are covered and we endeavour to promote the following:
Interest, What we can learn from …., and Respect and tolerance for each other’s beliefs. School trips are regularly organised to various places of worship and this gives substance to what we are trying to achieve.
These prompts are taken from the SIAMS Evaluation Schedule where further details are found
Reasons for the grade (impact and provision)
  1. Children achieve high standards of attainment and progress.
  2. Christian values are promoted and are evident in every day encounters.
  3. There is strong SMSC support throughout and this is demonstrated throughout the curriculum and is effective in the way children work, care for each other and their respect for one another. This is clearly evident in our Collective Worship as well.
  4. Relationships are mutually friendly, supportive and encouraging across the staff, parents and children groups.
  5. Evident in attitudes and behaviour towards other groups including faith, disability, disadvantaged, impoverished etc.
  6. Religious Education is highly valued by staff and children who take a keen interest and its worth is also evident in displays.
Key Strengths
  1. All children benefit and feel comfortable irrespective of belief or no belief.
  2. The 17 Christian Values and the way in which the school promotes these is again accessible to all.
  3. The school’s approach to Collective Worship and Christian ethos is respected and supported by the community of parents.
  4. High Standards and Progress are achieved.
  5. SMSC is well supported and effective as seen by outcomes.
  6. Children behave exceptionally well to each other and to adults.
  7. The school takes in children in all year groups and where new children are not behaving well to each other, they rapidly adopt the culture of the school.
  8. Religious Education is effective and helps cohesion, understanding and a tolerance of diversity.
  9. School regularly through a very effective school council and through other means supports several worthy causes with enthusiasm throughout the year.
Development points
  1. Developing the ‘Thoughtful Space’. (Under Way 2016)
  2. To change the school sign to stress the school is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled School rather than CEVCP. (Completed 2015)
  3. Further develop the classroom Christian symbols. (Complete and reviewed)
  4. Analyses and response to Questionnaire previously sent to all staff in every role within the school. (Analysis carried out and new questionnaires sent out 2016)

CORE QUESTION 2
What is the impact of collective worship on the school community?
SCHOOL SELF EVALUATION:Outstanding/Good/Satisfactory/ Inadequate
School evidence based on pupil outcomes:
Comment on:
  • The central attributes of collective worship
Collective Worship takes place daily in the school hall from 10.15 – 10.35am. We use a stained glass window projected on to the wall to enable a sense of solemnity and worship. We have an altar and ribbons to identify the current period within the Ecclesiastical Year. A candle is lit for prayer. Not all staff have a Christian belief, but all staff actively recognise the importance of our school as a Church School and actively support/defend it’s Christian character, principles, practice and ethos.
  • The theological basis of collective worship
Collective Worship has its basis in the Bible, but other Christian texts will be in use as will stories about Christians in the present and in the past. Recognition is made of God the Father, Jesus Christ, his son and the Holy Spirit that makes God known to mankind. Reference will be made regarding forgiveness of sin and that this is only possible through the death of Christ and his resurrection. Hymns are regularly sung and prayers are also said and this will include the Lord’s Prayer.
Assemblies are taken by all teaching staff in a regular rota. We also benefit from our local rector who comes in once a month and other ministers from the local Free Church and Baptist Church. GENR8, a theatrical group mainly from the local Anglican Churches come in regularly.
  • The key elements of an act of worship
Each follows the pattern of ‘Welcome,Hymn, Element of Worship, Who Else are we Thinking About? What can we take out and share with others? Prayer.
What did we take away to Share with Others?
  • The leadership and management of worship
•Collective Worship is led by all teaching staff on a weekly cycle. Worship is co-ordinated by the head teacher who is a practising Christian. Collective Worship takes place each day between 10-15am and 10.35am in the school hall.
Mon. – Head Teacher’s Assembly. Tues. – SEAL Assembly. Wed. – Sharing assembly. Thur. – Hymn Practice and separate KS1 Assembly. Friday. – Years 1 – 6 Assembly and separate Year R and Pre-School Assembly.
  • The centrality of prayer
Prayer is both a personal and collective direct relationship with God. It is central to our assemblies, to our Grace at lunchtime and at our departing at the end of the day.
Prayer is seen as very important by staff and children as a communication with God, but also as a time for self-evaluation, a time for contemplation, thinking of others and a time for wonder.