Being a Church School

Our School vision is rooted in biblical teaching. Jesus said 'I have come in order that you might have life - life in all its fullness'. John 10:10

The Church of England has a long and respected history of involvement of education.

Church of England schools are established primarily for the communities they are located in and were founded by parishes to serve the poorest children. They are inclusive and serve equally those who are of the Christian faith, those of other faiths and those with no faith.

You can read more about Church of England schools here

RE

Religious Education is taught every week as a discrete subject.

We follow the RE syllabus that has been written by the Diocese of London called Every Child Matters to God and it has been designed to help children learn about religious and from religions.

Key religious concepts are taught through a thematic approach to the subject. Christianity and the key teachings of the Church of England are studied along with Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Please see our RE Policy at the bottom of the page for more information.

Collective Worship

Every day our school community comes together for collective worship. As a Church school our collective worship reflects the ethos of the school and the traditions of the Church of England while valuing the contribution of those of other faiths.

We encourage children to regard collective worship as a period of calm, respectful reflection: to be quiet and thoughtful, to listen carefully to the leader and to participate in prayer and songs if they feel able. We create a peaceful atmosphere by using music and candles and other elements that act as a focal point for the attention of the children.

Every day, a different member of staff or clergy leads our collective worship:

SIAMS

As well as being inspected by Ofsted, denominational schools have a further inspection under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. In Church of England/Church in Wales schools this is referred to as Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS).
Our SIAMS inspection took place on 10th November 2016. We had one inspector in school, who focused on the answers to four main questions.

Monday worship is led by our Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher
Tuesday worship is led by our new Vicar Natasha Woodward
Wednesday worship is led by the teachers
Thursday worship is where we celebrate achievement in the school from the past week. Once every term, each class also shares their learning at a Thursday worship and parents are welcome to join us.led by The Senior Leadership team and the Music Teacher
Friday worship is led by The Senior Leadership team and the Music Teacher
How well does the school, through its distinctive Christian character, meet the needs of all learners?
What is the impact of collective worship on the school community?
How effective is Religious Education?
How effective are the leadership and management of the school as a church school?
The school was given an OUTSTANDING grade (see report below)

Our Church

As a school we work in close partnership with our church – St Peter’s Church, which is situated on Elgin Avenue W9. St. Peter’s church is the sister church of St.Mary Magdalene’s. Both churches together constitute the United Benefice of St.Mary Magdalene & St.Peter, Paddington.

A temporary vicar, Natasha Woodward, is very much part of the school community and is always available to listen and encourage both children and staff. Every Tuesday Natasha Woodward leads the act of worship in the school.