St Mary’s is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School.
The vicar of St Mary’s Church, Beverley, Reverend Becky Lumley and three other governors are appointed by the York Diocesan Board of Education in consultation with the Parochial Church Council to serve as governors of the school. The whole school attends special services in St Mary’s Church several times each year and the vicar visits the school each week.
Collective Worship
An act of collective worship takes place daily within the school either within key stages or as a
whole school. Themes for collective worship are selected jointly by staff and children through
our Worship Committee. Themes reflect many aspects of life in the world today, but focus on
the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the children and reflect the school’s
core Christian values. Each act of collective worship includes time for prayer or reflection. As
a church school, collective worship follows the Christian calendar, although stories and
prayers from other faiths are also included.
We have good links with several of the churches in Beverley and visitors regularly lead collective worship at St Mary’s.
Children’s achievements are celebrated in our Celebration Worship each Friday afternoon and
parents, carers and friends are welcome to join in this collective worship which begins at 2:45pm. Each class are given the opportunity to write and to share class prayers both in school and when we have our termly service at St Mary’s Church.
In accordance with the law, the school will make arrangements for parents to exercise the right of withdrawal of their children from collective worship. In such cases, children who are withdrawn from collective worship will be provided with another activity during that time.
Reflection Corner
Each class has a reflection corner, a special place where the children can go to pray or just sit and think quietly. The display and the items around the display have been chosen to help the children feel closer to God.
SIAMS Inspection Report
All Church of England dioceses and the Methodist Church use the Church of England Education Office's framework for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The SIAMS Evaluation Schedule sets out the expectations for the conduct of the Statutory Inspection of Anglican, Methodist and ecumenical Schools under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005.
Purpose and focus of SIAMS inspections
SIAMS inspection focuses on the impact of the Church school's Christian vision on pupils and adults. This involves looking at the school’s Christian vision, the provision the school makes because of this vision and how effective this provision is in enabling all pupils to flourish. Church schools will employ a variety of strategies and styles appropriate to, and reflective of, their particular context in order to be distinctively and effectively Christian in their character and ethos. SIAMS inspectors therefore do not look for a set template of what a Church school should be like, but rather take the particular context of the school into account and base their evaluation on the outcomes rather than the process.
The Evaluation Schedule has one inspection question: how effective is the school’s distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling pupils and adults to flourish?
This is explored through seven strands:
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Vision and Leadership
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Wisdom, Knowledge and Skills
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Character Development: Hope, Aspiration and Courageous Advocacy
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Community and Living Well Together
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Dignity and Respect
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The impact of collective worship
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The effectiveness of religious education
One overall grade is awarded reflecting the contribution of these strands to the flourishing of pupils and adults in a Church school. In addition a standalone grade is awarded in all schools for collective worship and in voluntary aided (VA) schools and former VA schools for religious education (RE). This grade is based on teaching and learning alone.