St Michael’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Nursery and Infant School
Schoolhouse Lane
Blickling Road
Aylsham
Norwich
NR11 6EX
Previous SIAMS grade : Good
Diocese: Norwich
Local authority: Norfolk
Date of inspection: 10th June 2015
Date of last inspection: 6th July 2010
School’s unique reference number: 121027
Headteacher: Catherine McMahon
Inspector’s name and number: Caroline Clarke 711
School context
St Michael’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Nursery and Infant School serves the town
of Aylsham and the surrounding rural area, within commuter distance of Norwich. The school
has strong links with its parish church, which is close to the school. A new headteacher and new
incumbent have both been appointed since the last inspection.
The distinctiveness and effectiveness of St Michael’s as a Church of England school
are outstanding.

The school is proud of the vibrant, inviting and spiritually enriching learning environment
it has created both indoors and outside.

The Christian vision and values, embedded in daily school life, have a clear and positive
influence on pupils’ values, attitudes, ability to think deeply and their behaviour. All pupils
are nurtured and encouraged to be reflective learners.

Excellent behaviour demonstrates the high levels of respect pupils have for one another
and the community in which they learn.

The very strong Christian leadership and vision is positively influencing the school and
impacting significantly on whole school improvement and development.
Areas to improve


For pupils to become more involved in the planning as well as leading of individual acts of
worship in order to deepen their understanding.
Provide further opportunities, in partnership with parents, to celebrate and explore the
school’s spirituality and Christian ethos.

To ensure that enhancing and developing the distinctiveness of the school as a church school
continues to be an explicit aim within the school improvement plan.
The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is outstanding at meeting
the needs of all learners
The school’s Christian ethos is central to every aspect of school life, meaning pupils are very
much aware of the significance of faith within their school. The school’s aim is to inspire and
each letter within the word ‘inspire’ represents an important aspect of school life, namely :independence, nurture, spirituality, potential, inclusion, relationships and enjoyment. These six
areas are interwoven through everything that the school does. Christian teachings impact
positively on the choices pupils make and their interactions with one another. For example,
children talk with knowledge about the story of the Good Samaritan and how important it is to
help others in need.
Behaviour is excellent and parents, staff and
governors speak highly of pupils in terms of their kindness, friendliness, tolerance and respect
for one another. Achievement for all pupils is good, including those pupils who are vulnerable.
Opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development are embedded
across the curriculum. Pupils have a clear understanding of right and wrong. They show a strong
awareness, respect and concern for the diversity and needs of others at home and abroad. The
school is twinned with a school in Cambodia for whom they have raised money. The RE Subject
Leader ensures that curriculum planning is closely linked to collective worship in order to
extend and develop pupils’ understanding of Christianity. The impact of RE is evident
throughout the school in displays, the attitudes of pupils and their understanding of personal and
shared values. Following a recent visit to Norwich Cathedral, Y2 pupils were able to talk in
detail about their learning, explaining the photographs they had taken and written work they had
produced about the bishop, the cathedra and the story behind the bosses on the cathedral
ceiling.
The school
has focused on developing its spirituality. The outcome is well informed, reflective learners. All
classes have reflection spaces that are used daily and understood by the children. They contain
prayer boxes, peaceful areas, a gratitude tree, a remembrance tree and values books. A sensory
garden that is also used as a prayer space has been designed and made by pupils.
The impact of collective worship on the school community is outstanding.
Collective worship is securely based on the Christian gospel and always includes a welcome,
opportunities for engaging with a message, singing and time for prayer and reflection. Daily acts
of worship are led by the headteacher, teachers and sometimes the pupils themselves. The
incumbent leads collective worship at the school once a week. Pupils really enjoy worship,
particularly role play, and participate with great enthusiasm. They are involved in planning class
worship on an occasional basis and they say they would like to plan and lead worship themselves
more regularly. Pupils are very attentive throughout worship and can explain the significance of
this special part of their day. The Lord’s prayer is used often, along with the school prayer and
collects written by pupils. Pupils have also written thank you prayers and forgiveness prayers.
Pupils are able to talk about the Trinity, showing age appropriate understanding of God as the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One pupil gave a very clear analogy of how the incumbent had
explained this concept through the use of bubbles, giving a visual reminder of three parts to one
thing, namely water, soap and air. The impact of collective worship is clear in the classroom
reflection areas and through discussions with pupils.
Planning of collective worship by the headteacher, pupils and staff reflects the main festivals of
the Church year and also reinforces the school values. The church is used for the main Christian
festivals. Pupils and parents recall with enthusiasm when the whole school dressed in costumes
and acted out the Easter story as they travelled from the school to the church. Church services
are very well supported by parents. Parents and pupils also talk excitedly about the ‘Make and
Take’ activities that take place one evening a week after school and are held at the church.
The school keeps a collective worship log where pupils and staff record their comments and
thoughts. There is also regular monitoring of collective worship by governors resulting in
NS 09 2013
SIAMS Inspection School Report
discussion regarding its impact and changes are made as required.
The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the school as a church
school is outstanding.
There has been substantial progress in this area of the school’s development since the last
inspection. The headteacher, in partnership with staff and the incumbent provides excellent
leadership. The school has a very clear Christian vision, shared by governors and staff who are
keen to talk about how the spirituality of the school is developing. Pupils, staff and governors
have held meetings to establish this vision.
A secure evidence base of school improvement, evaluation and monitoring records with action
points for further improvements, show the impact of a whole school approach to developing
Christian distinctiveness. This information is shared with parents and pupils via discussion and
the website. The school clearly advocates a strong Christian message through its brochure,
aims, school policies and displays. The headteacher, staff and governors are able to clearly
articulate the impact of explicit Christian values on individual learners and the life of the school.
By making the spiritual life of the school a key part of the School Improvement Plan, the impact
for pupils has been significantly improved. Staff have used a Diocesan audit tool to look in depth
at SMSC education from a Christian perspective and governors have carried out monitoring
visits linked to spirituality.
Staff comment that they feel valued and involved in the school’s development and are part of its
Christian distinctiveness. Staff and governors work closely with the headteacher to further their
professional development in relation to Christian distinctiveness and thus enrich the
opportunities provided for pupils, thus ensuring sustainability of a strong Christian ethos.
Religious education (RE) is planned in detail throughout the school. The RE Subject Leader and
incumbent have led a cluster wide approach where local schools have shared good practice in
RE.
There is a very strong
partnership between the school, the local church and the wider community including the
Diocese. The Bishop visited the school to open the new extension and celebrate Ascension Day
with the whole school community. The incumbent has an effective pastoral role in the school.
Parents speak very highly of the friendly, caring atmosphere at the school and praise its strong
links with the church. They verbalise how enthusiastic their children are to talk about Bible
stories shared in school and that the positive, warm Christian ethos is very evident and explicit
in the life of the school. Following the appointment of the current headteacher and incumbent
there has been a re-awakening of what it means to be a church school. The impact of this is
clearly visible across the school and church communities that are now intrinsically linked. The
school’s self-evaluation is accurate and there is a strong capacity for the school to continue to
build on its strengths.
SIAMS report June 2015 St Michael’s CEVC Nursery and Infant School.
NS 09 2013
SIAMS Inspection School Report