All Saints Church – Oakham

Oakham Church of England Primary School is part of The Diocese of Peterborough. All Saints Parish Church Oakham, situated right in the heart of the town, is the largest Church in England’s smallest county. It has a full range of worship and community activities on every day of the week. We work in partnership with the churches and ministers of the other nine churches in the Oakham Team Ministry. There are very good and fruitful relations with other Churches in the town. We aim to be a welcoming Christian community and as the only Anglican church in the town we attract people from all traditions. We value our musical life and are committed to engaged preaching. Children are welcomed and encouraged at all our services. A range of home, fellowship and study groups are held in the Parish and across the Team. All Saints Church – Oakham Website: www.allsaintsoakham.org.uk

Collective Worship

Collective Worship is highly valued as a time set apart in the school day and week, where the whole school community can gather together. It provides opportunities for the school community to arrive in worship with the right attitude, engage with their own spirituality and Biblical teachings and leave feeling refreshed and inspired. Worship is a ‘time to breathe’; a time when all can come together to find a space, silence and quietness to reflect on their own spirituality, values and place in the world. Just as breathing is vitally important to life, worship is a significant and sacred time in the life of the school; ensuring the time is valued to allow all to ‘breathe’. 

Collective worship gives the whole school community the opportunity to:

• Engage in an act of togetherness and community.
• Affirm and understand Biblical stories and the Christian values and attitudes which underpin our schools' foundation.
• Celebrate special times in the Christian calendar and beyond.
• Explore the big questions of life and respond to national events.
• Foster respect and deepen spiritual awareness.
• Be still and reflect.
• Share each other’s joys, successes and challenges.

It is important that we remember collective worship should be inclusive, inspirational and invitational no matter where it is held or who is leading.

• Inclusive: something for children and teachers, of all faiths or of none to be able to join in with.
• Inspirational: a time in the day to think about the big questions in our lives; an occasion that supports the school community’s spiritual development.
• Invitational: an opportunity for those of any religious faith or none to focus and reflect on stimuli which allow the human spirit to respond with integrity.

Structure for the week:

In line with our Data Protection Policy, parents, relatives and friends are requested not to record any images (take photos/videos) at any school event until they are invited to do so.

Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS)

As a Church of England school, Oakham CofE Primary School is inspected under the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) framework. SIAMS is sometimes referred to as a Section 48 inspection and is separate from an Ofsted inspection.

SIAMS evaluates how effectively our school is living up to its foundation as a Church school. At the heart of this is our Christian vision and the difference that this makes to the lives and flourishing of children and adults within our school community.  Every Church school is unique. SIAMS does not expect schools to follow a particular model or approach. Instead, inspectors take account of the school's individual context and consider how its Christian vision shapes the decisions that it makes and the impact that these have.

The SIAMS Framework

The SIAMS framework is underpinned by three important questions:

• Who are we as a school?
• Why are we here?
• How then do we live?

Through the SIAMS inspection questions, inspectors explore how the school's Christian vision influences and enables the flourishing of children and adults. This includes considering:

• how the school's Christian vision shapes leadership and decision-making;
• how the curriculum reflects the school's vision and supports children's spiritual development;
• the impact of collective worship;
• how the school's vision creates a culture in which children and adults are treated well;
• how pupils are encouraged to be active citizens and make a positive difference to their communities and the wider world; and
• the quality and effectiveness of Religious Education (RE).

SIAMS inspections are contextual and evidence-led. Inspectors consider the impact of the decisions that the school has made because of its Christian foundation and vision, rather than looking for schools to follow a prescribed approach.

At Oakham CofE Primary School, our Christian vision and values are central to our aim of enabling every child and adult to flourish and to “Let all that we do be done in love.”

Further information about SIAMS and the current inspection framework can be found on the National Society for Education website.  SIAMS Inspection Reports — National Society for Education

Religion and World Views

In the UK, parents have a legal right to withdraw their child from Religion and World Views lessons, either in whole or in part, at any school.  While schools must grant this request, the parents become responsible for supervising their child during this time, typically on the school premises, and should arrange their own religious education. All such requests must be made in writing to the headteacher and should be reviewed annually, with the school needing to keep a written record of the decision.