Launton CE Primary School, SIAS Inspection Report
Date Added: Monday 4th September 2006
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DIOCESE OF OXFORD
Launton C of E Primary School
Bicester Road
Launton
Bicester
OX26 5DP |
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Type of school (Infant, Primary, Middle, Secondary etc) |
Primary |
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Status (VA, VC or Foundation, CTC or Academy) |
Voluntary controlled |
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LEA |
Oxfordshire |
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Dates of inspection |
29th June 2006 |
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Date of last inspection |
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School’s Unique reference number |
123103 |
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Name of Headteacher |
Lisa Moorhouse |
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Name of Chair of Governors |
Sue Wakelin |
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Inspector’s name and NS inspector’s number |
Alan Thornsby 137 |
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Summary Judgement
Launton C of E school is a satisfactory church school that is rapidly improving because of the impact of the new headteacher and her commitment to the development of the school.
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Established strengths
- The commitment of the headteacher to developing a distinctive and effective school
- The quality of the pupils’ personal development
- The relationships between all members of the school
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Focus for development
- Include the distinctiveness as a church school in the schools priorities for development
- Ensure collective worship has a distinctive atmosphere and is understood by pupils as a special time of the day.
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The school, through its distinctive Christian character is satisfactory in meeting the needs of all learners.
This is because of the vision of the headteacher in creating of a stable welcoming and caring school environment in which all pupils are valued and supported. The aims of the school state that children are ‘encouraged to live a life based on Christian values’ and these reflect the values children bring from home. Pupils are well supported to achieve and their efforts are rewarded in a range of ways such as a weekly achievement assembly, star charts and headteacher awards. The impact of the new headteacher has been to bring stability and raise standards through a focus on teaching and learning. This is recognised and praised by everyone. Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural developments arise through worship and in religious education lessons where pupils explore what it means to belong to a community before studying Sikhism, and others design a guidebook to the parish church. In one class a ‘worry’ box and a prayer corner have been introduced and pupils use these for their own personal development. Music and art are important aspects of the life of the school in developing cultural and spiritual development. Relationships between all members of the school community are very good because the adults in school provide good role models for the pupils. Pupils explain that in this school they learn to make choices and know that making a wrong choice can be turned into a situation from which to move forward. The principles of forgiveness and fresh start are at the centre of the ethos of the school. Although the pupils can speak of the special nature of their school, they find it difficult to relate this to specific Christian values. The school does not yet include its distinctiveness as a church school in the development plan.
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The impact of collective worship on the school community is satisfactory, with some good features.
This is because of the priority given to daily worship. Individual leaders develop planned themes, and from each theme a value of the week is drawn out. This value is explored in both worship and in class throughout the week that strengthens the messages. Children enjoy taking part in worship and benefit from the discussion about how to live your life. They listen well and have a great ability to rapidly learn and sing new songs. This reflects the important commitment the school has to music. Most pupils are not sufficiently aware of the need to create a distinctive atmosphere for worship because of a lack of focus as they enter the hall. They find it difficult to talk about the special purpose of worship, even though they find it helpful to reflect on their own lives through the stories told. They enjoy the termly services in church and some have joined the headteacher to take part in monthly family services.
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The leadership and management of the school as a church school is satisfactory.
This is because of the vision of the headteacher that is communicated to and supported by the whole school community. All have a determined commitment to develop the school in which the ethos is firmly underpinned by Christian values. A united team has developed because staff have worked hard to evolve an ‘aims web’ that reflects these values and principles. The successful progress of the school in a short time is a direct result of the leadership of the head, commitment of the staff and support and challenge of the governing body. However, the impact of the distinctive Christian character of a school has yet to be addressed. Parents and pupils know that they listened to and that staff are readily available to support them and solve problems. The head has been well supported by the diocese, and speaks of the recent headteachers conference as being inspirational in terms of the inclusivity of a church school. There are strong links with the church. The vicar leads worship and has conducted a role play wedding (which also included a ‘healthy food’ reception.) There is mutual support for events in school and church such as fetes. The school acknowledges the lack of members of other faiths in school but has raised the profile of others faiths by the use of stories from other faiths in worship themes, in addition to comparing them with Christianity. |
