A Definition of Spirituality within School, prepared for us by Reverend Keddilty, Alison Keddilty and the St. Anne’s Youth Church Mission Team.
‘At St Anne’s CE Primary School, we believe that spirituality is experienced by everybody as unique individuals and that spirituality is important for healthy development. As we seek to discover more about ourselves and our connection to other people, the world around us and to God, we value a sense of awe and wonder. We believe that every member of our school, whether child or adult, should be nurtured as they develop their spiritual awareness and spiritual character.’
St. Anne’s CE is an average-sized primary school in Bishop Auckland, a market town in the North-East of England. The school opened a Governor-led nursery in January 2019 with 6 children; within eighteen months it was up to capacity and has remained so ever since. Equally, St. Anne’s has been oversubscribed since the current Head Teacher took over nine years ago, with an average of 90+applications for thirty Reception places year-on-year since then. NOR is currently 215, all cohorts are consistently full with waiting lists and pupil mobility across school is almost zero. This is also the case for staff mobility, with the vast majority having been with the current Head Teacher since her appointment in 2014. The Deputy Head was appointed the following year and three phase leaders internally promoted over subsequent years.
St Anne’s serves a population of high deprivation as evidenced by recent IDACI analysis. As of November 2021, 71% of pupils are from areas in the top 30% most deprived in England (IDACI). 9% of pupils are from the top 5% most deprived in England. Only 25% of pupils are from less deprived areas. Equally, deprivation levels are high for all deprivation domains including Income, Employment, Health and Crime. The school has seen a significant increase in deprivation levels over the last 4 years. In 2015, 49% of pupils were from areas in the top 30% most deprived in England; this is now 71%. Pupils in the top 20% most deprived in England has increased from 19% in 2015 to 42%. This represents a significant decline in the area and thus a significant change in the school’s context.
Nearly all pupils are from White British families; a few come from ethnic minority families. A below- average proportion of pupils is known to be eligible for free school meals. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is also below average; two children have EHCPs and are provided with 1:1 support. St. Anne’s, however, has a higher than average proportion of CLA.
The Vision of the School ‘Minds to Learn, Hearts to Care’
Our school vision is to be the best version of ourselves that God created us to be, with ‘Minds to Learn and Hearts to Care. At St. Anne’s our vision is for everyone who is part of our school community to live life to the full nd treat everyone with compassion and respect. This vision shapes all we do and helps us understand who we are as a school, why we are here, and then how we live. Our values are the building blocks for strong foundations for lifelong learning and lifelong faith. Jesus summed up his most important teaching by quoting the greatest commandment ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. And love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22v37-39)
Our school vision is to be the best version of ourselves that God created us to be – with minds to learn and hearts to care.
Who are we as a school? Our deeply Christian vision is firmly rooted in the Bible. Jesus summed up his most important teaching by quoting the greatest commandment – love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul with all your mind. And love your neighbour as yourself. (Matthew 22v37-39) At St Anne’s our vision is for everyone who is part of our school community to live life to the full and to treat everyone with compassion and respect. This vision shapes all we do and helps us understand who we are as a school, why we are here, and then how we live. Our values are the building blocks for strong foundations for lifelong learning and lifelong faith.
Why are we here? These are our values:
Loving God with all of our heart We want everyone at St Anne’s to be the best version of themselves. We believe this is about everyone being authentic, open and honest. We are dedicated to continuous improvement, challenging ourselves, celebrating our successes and always aspiring to be ‘the best we can be’ to enable each child and adult to flourish and achieve.
Loving God with all our soul We want to nurture the spiritual life of everyone in our school family recognising that ‘spirituality is like a bird; if you hold it too tightly, it chokes; if you hold it too loosely, it flies away. Fundamental to spirituality is the absence of force. Rabbi Hugo Gryn
To promote our Christian ethos and values through lively, intelligent and creative participation
To provide an inviting, inclusive school environment where all members of the school community, of all faiths or none, are valued, respected and care for one another.
To encourage and develop links between the school, home, our parishes and the local, national and global community.
Loving God with all our mind
To provide a high quality and nurturing learning environment.
To be dedicated to continuous improvement, challenging ourselves, celebrating our successes and always aspiring to be ‘the best we can be’.
To enable each child and adult to flourish and achieve.
How then do we live? This shapes our school life.
Daily collective worship is at the centre of school life and enables children to experience the diversity of Christian practice and tradition.
High quality, effective, academic religious education allows pupils and adults alike to flourish. Throughout all our school life our Christian vision and values promote social and cultural development through the practice of forgiveness and reconciliation. They encourage good mental health and enable children and adults, whatever their background or ability, to flourish and live well together. The vision is used to ensure our policies, curriculum and extracurricular opportunities meet the academic and spiritual needs of all learners. We describe all our activities in terms of how the vision and values inspire our whole school community, children and adults, to engage in social action and to be courageous advocates for change in their local, national and global communities
Our Christian vision supports the character and moral development of all pupils and adults, giving them aspiration for themselves and hope for the communities of which they are a part. It fosters dignity and respect, enabling everyone to be the person God created them to be, to achieve the most they can, and to inspire hope for others in the local community and beyond. Learning is at the heart of what we do here; we offer a rich, stimulating environment to develop the whole child, fulfilling academic potential whilst building moral character. We encourage unique, creative, open-minded, independent individuals, respectful of themselves and others. Inspired by Christian faith and practice, our school provides a caring, pastoral base in which each child feels loved, valued and accepted. Through nurturing them in their educational journey, our pupils will be confident in their ability to meet the opportunities and challenges of a changing world, taking happy memories of St. Anne’s with them into their future life.
Awards and Achievements (2018– present)
Curriculum Quality Marks:
RE (Gold)
Science (Silver)
Geography (Silver)
Other:
BIG Anti-Bullying National Award (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Investing in Children (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Archbishop of York Young Leaders KS2 (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Fairtrade Achievers Award achieved annually (2016-2021)
Archbishop of York Young Leaders KS1 (2018, 2019, 2020)
Year 6 Young Play Leaders achieved annually (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Eco Schools Green Flag Gold Award (2019)
Junior Road Safety Officers Achievement Award (2019)
Green Trees Award Bronze level (2019)
Green Trees Award Silver level (2019)
Artsmark Record of Commitment (2019)
Light the Candle Worship Award for Chaplaincy Team (2019)
Rights Respecting Bronze (2019)
School Sports Mark Bronze Level (2019, 2020)
Young Carers Charter achieved (2019, 2020)
Global Neighbours Accreditation Bronze (2019, 2020)
Junior Management Team Inspirational Young People Award (2020)
Green Trees Award Gold Level (2020)
Riverfly School of the Year (2020)
Green Trees Award Platinum Level (2021)
John Muir Award (2021)
NNAS Outdoor Discovery Award (2021)
Awaiting accreditation:
SMSC Award
Artsmark
Bishop’s Church School Partnership Award (Lead School for Growing Faith)
Presentations:
Pupils presented their Archbishop of York project to Head Teachers at the Annual Conference (2019)
Head Teacher invited to present the school’s Pupil Voice ‘Creating Character’ Project at the Diocesan Regional Conference, then at the following National Diocesan Conference. It was subsequently chosen and published as one of the ten national case studies included in the National Diocesan Publication of the same name (2019)
Data
Historic External Data Summary- July 2019
EYFS (GLD) – The school has always been well above national averages, by a minimum of 5%. From 2014 to 2019 standards have increased by 7%.
Phonics – The school has always been well above national averages, by a minimum of 6% (except 2017 – +2%).
KS1 (Expected) – The school is consistently well above national averages in all subjects, over time and by a minimum of 5% (except 2018 Reading +1%).
KS1 (Greater Depth) – The school is consistently well above national averages in all subjects, over time and by a minimum of 5%.
KS2 (RWM Comb Expected) – The school is always well above national averages and over time by a minimum of 10%.
KS2 (RWM Comb High Scores) – The school is consistently above national averages and over time by a minimum of 7% (except 2019 +2%)
The school typically has between 14% and 18% of pupils who are ‘disadvantaged’ (currently in receipt of a free school meal or have been at some point in the last six years). This is lower than the National average at around 26%,
It is unusual taking into account the high deprivation levels demonstrated above. In some cohorts the number of disadvantaged pupils is very low so should be treated with caution.
EYFS – In both 2017 and 2019 the performance of disadvantaged pupils in St Anne’s was in line with the performance of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. This is outstanding. 2018 data, although not as impressive, only reflected a cohort of 4 children.
Phonics – From 2017-2019 80% of disadvantaged pupils passed the phonics screening check. This is similar to performance of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally (84%). This is outstanding.
KS1 – In reading and writing, over time, the performance of disadvantaged pupils in St Anne’s has been better than disadvantaged pupils nationally and in line with all pupils nationally.
Maths is particularly impressive, as the performance of these pupils in St Anne’s is better than non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.
KS2 – In reading, writing and maths combined and over time. The performance of disadvantaged pupils in St Anne’s has been better than disadvantaged pupils nationally and in line with all pupils nationally.
Internal Analysis September 2021- May 2022
The global pandemic has had a significant impact and disruption on assessment including the attainment and progress of pupils. However, effective remote and on-site learning provision at St Anne’s has meant that the impact of this has been limited. Approximately, 79% of pupils in Maths, 79% in Reading and 73% of pupils in Writing are at least On Track and achieving age- related expectations. This is still lower than the pre- pandemic figures but much higher than when pupils returned to school in September 2021.
Progress since September 2021 has been at least good with most subjects showing outstanding progress. This applies to all groups of pupils including disadvantaged pupils and SEND.
The overall progress figures for all pupils Y1-Y6 are as follows:
Note:
>2.1 Outstanding Progress
>1.8 Good Progress
<1.8 Slow Progress
ALL PUPILS
- Reading Y1 2.2 Y2 3.0 Y3 2.3 Y4 2.4 Y5 2.5 Y6 2.1
- Writing Y1 1.7 Y2 2.7 Y3 2.0 Y4 2.2 Y5 2.9 Y6 2.0
- Maths Y1 1.9 Y2 2.3 Y3 2.3 Y4 2.1 Y5 2.6 Y6 1.8
As you can see from above the vast majority of areas are showing outstanding progress with only Y1 Writing showing less than good. After investigation of Y1 progress in writing, it has been found that those pupils missed the vitally important Nursery and Reception experiences and therefore a lot of work has had to be invested in personal, social and emotional areas so that pupils in Y1 are secure enough to be able write effectively.
The overall progress figures for disadvantaged pupils Y1-Y6 are as follows:
Note:
>2.1 Outstanding Progress
>1.8 Good Progress
<1.8 Slow Progress
DISADVANTAGED PUPILS
- Reading Y1 2.7 Y2 2.9 Y3 2.6 Y4 2.3 Y5 2.7 Y6 2.4
- Writing Y1 1.3 Y2 2.8 Y3 1.8 Y4 2.1 Y5 3.1 Y6 2.3
- Maths Y1 2.0 Y2 2.5 Y3 2.2 Y4 2.0 Y5 2.6 Y6 1.9
Disadvantaged pupils made at least good progress in all areas apart from Y1 Writing. Reading progress was outstanding in all year groups and progress in all subjects in most cases was outstanding.
Latest SIAMS Report
St Anne’s SIAMS Report (download)
School Development Plan
In the Development Plan, our Church School priorities are highlighted in purple:
