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National Society Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools Report

Marcham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Morland RoadMarcham, OX13 6PY

Diocese: OxfordLocal authority: OxfordshireDates of inspection: 23 April 2012Date of last inspection: 11 November 2008Schools unique reference number: 123155Headteacher: Viv HutchinsonInspectors name and number: Jane Tuckett 668

School contextMarcham CE Primary School is set in a socially-mixed village location and serves the local

community as well as two further rural settlements. It has a rising school roll with currently137 pupils from largely White British families, mostly taught in single-age class groups, withbelow average SEN needs and fewer than average free school meals.The distinctiveness and effectiveness of Marcham CE Primary School as a Church of

England school are goodThe school has a lively, friendly atmosphere with warm relationships between learners, staff,parents and governors and provides a stimulating yet nurturing learning environment for itspupils. Stakeholders affirm that it is firmly based on values which are strongly Christian andthat these, reflected in the programme of collective worship as well as daily life, inform everyaspect of the school.

Established strengthsA strong values-based ethos within which excellent relationships based on care, support,

nurturing, generosity, respect, tolerance and forgiveness flourish.A head whose Christian vision encourages her to work tirelessly, in conjunction withrepresentatives of the local church, to give the children in her care a sense of individualworth, belonging and confidence, while realistically evaluating areas for development.Strong links with the local community and especially the local church which make the schoolan integral part of village life.

Focus for developmentRevisit and explore issues of Christian distinctiveness in the schools underlying values,policies and life and communicate them to all stakeholders, so that the schools successesand special ethos are seen unequivocally to arise from it distinctiveness as a church school.Set up and formalise effective and consistent procedures for the monitoring and evaluationof RE teaching and learning by staff and the impact of worship by staff and governors.Ensure the spiritual dimension of school life and worship by creating sacred and reflectivespace and time around the school and throughout the school day and encourage moreplanning, leadership and ownership of collective worship by pupils.The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is good at meeting the needs of

all learnersThe school provides good opportunities through a broad and lively curriculum, colourfulenvironment, extra-curricular opportunities, trips, including a residential visit at Y5&6, andlocal school partnership based activities. Pupils benefit from strong caring relationships andfeel valued and supported as individuals to achieve usually good standards althoughassessment for learning techniques and tracking of pupil progress are not yet consistentlyapplied across all curriculum areas including RE. However, RE is thoroughly and creativelytaught in line with the Agreed Syllabus and is seen as an important vehicle for teaching aboutspirituality as well as religious and cultural diversity through visits and visitors. This is an areawhere the head is keen to explore further ways of developing links with different communitiesnationally and globally. In an observed RE lesson on the post-resurrection appearances ofJesus, as in collective worship, pupils were led by well-chosen art works and carefulquestioning to respond thoughtfully and spiritually, empathising strongly with the thoughts

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and feelings of the disciples. The school fosters a sense of responsibility. Two year 5 pupilsrecently won a national competition for their ecological performance rap and the school isworking through the Eco-School agenda; it has achieved both Healthy School andActivemark status while the school council is effective in raising pupil concerns andenthusiastic in shouldering responsibility and promoting charitable activities. Effective careand guidance from staff lead to good personal development and behaviour; pupils, staff andparents alike value excellent relationships which underpin school life and attribute them to thestrong Christian ethos. However, the values are not explicitly attributed in the vision andmission statements and this area of the distinctiveness of values is currently under discussionat all levels within the school. Similarly, a colourful cross and powerful display of the emptytomb, made by some of the pupils, gave a strong Christian message in the school lobby butthis was not reinforced elsewhere in the school and the head is keen to explore ways ofgiving time and space for calm and reflection both inside and outside the school building.

The impact of collective worship on the school community is goodCollective worship is planned around a series of values and is led once a week by arepresentative of the church community, either clergy or lay. Termly services are held in theparish church, underlining the strong link with the church and enabling pupils to develop asound knowledge of Church of England liturgy, festivals and symbolism. Parents value thefamiliarity this gives the children with the church building and practice and pupils regard it as

their church. The services in the church are open to parents, carers and other members ofthe church family and are very well attended, giving a much wider constituency theopportunity for powerful spiritual experiences. Pupils play a prominent role in planning andleading the church services and are now keen to increase their participation and sense ofownership at this level in the school-based collective worship. The school clearlydifferentiates between assembly and worship. On the day of the inspection a lively Wake upShake up dance based on the Hindu festival of Holi was choreographed by the children. Thiswas followed by spiritual music which provided a cue for an attentive response to the Biblestory acted out by pupils, discussion and the washing of childrens hands by staff with itsmessage of humility and service in support of the current value. Music, prayer and time forreflection all combined to give a strong sense of the spiritual. All staff are now involved inleading the weekly celebration assemblies where successes and achievements, often related

to the fortnightly value, are marked and childrens prayers are used. Staff assert confidentlythat pupils appreciate and benefit from collective worship but monitoring of it is as yetrelatively unrefined and insufficient clear evidence of the impact of worship on the schoolcommunity is available to inform and support positive future developments.The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the school as a church school

is goodThe governing body is strong and committed with a good number of foundation governorsfrom the church laity with clergy members also contributing extensively to the life of theschool. In particular the Youth and Childrens Minister constantly and visibly reinforces thelink between the church and the school by her regular leading of worship and almost dailycontribution to RE and other lessons. All stakeholders value the strong relationship of theschool with the church and the village community. The school plays a prominent and organic

part in the regular events of a lively village community and joins the church in charitable linkswith Moldova and Mozambique. A majority of the pupils attend the churchs Friday Club afterschool at the end of the week, while the church congregation appreciate having the childrenswork displayed in the church. Comments about the recent Easter display talked of the workbeing meaningful and helpful. Parents in particular drew attention to the positive changesmade by the current head in terms of ethos and the sense of community and their impact onbehaviour and relationships and in these she has the full support of the governors who meetregularly to discuss such issues. Foundation governors are currently engaged in re-evaluating the distinctiveness of the schools vision with a view to finding the appropriate wayforward for communicating the underlying values in explicitly Christian terms to allstakeholders. They are also exploring ways of monitoring and evaluating more systematicallythe impact of what is done as a church school. Staff feel supported by the school throughtraining and appraisal arrangements and the new curriculum teams are giving them usefulmiddle management opportunities. Parents are very positive about the school, its ethos andchurch links and feel that staff are both accessible and approachable and that any concernsthey have will be addressed speedily and appropriately.

SIAS report April 2012 Marcham CE Primary School OX13 6PY