SIAMS

Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools

You can access our latest SIAMS report here.

Our Christian Vision is at the heart of all that we do. We aim for every child to love learning in a safe environment where they feel nurtured, valued and happy. We aim for a culture of exceptionally high expectations and an innovative approach to inspire both our children and staff to believe that they can achieve excellence enabling them to flourish. This is rooted in our core values of:friendship, kindness and respect.

SMSC

At Thornton Dale we promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, including developing British Values. Through our innovative approach to teaching, we aim to provide opportunities for our children to form their own identity; sense of place and purpose, giving them the confidence to question and discover who they are in the world and face the exciting challenges that lie ahead.

British values are embedded in the work of the school and they are defined as:

Democracy

The rule of law

Individual liberty

Mutual respect

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

SMSC is spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. As our pupils grow and progress through school we are committed to ensure that they achieve their full potential academically but also understand the importance of progressing spiritually, morally, culturally and socially in order to be prepared for life in modern Britain and so that they can develop as a whole child. The creative and unique curriculum and Thornton Dale ensures that children are encouraged to grow in all of these areas. Our core aims and values are reflective of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by teaching perseverance, resilience, independence and fundamental British values. We are proud to be a church school, a Christian ethos is what underpins everything we do at Thornton Dale and we have a close relationship with the church and local community.

Spiritual

· Children are provided with opportunities to explore and understand different values and beliefs, including those of other religions.

.Collective Worship is integral to daily life at Thornton Dale

· Children visit different places of worship and respect different beliefs.

· Children are supported to understand human emotions.

· We challenge our children, encouraging them to expand their learning by asking open ended questions and using the Blooms Taxonomy.

Moral

.We have a clear moral code which is consistent through school and reflective of our strong Christian ethos

· We promote measures to prevent discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age and other criteria through our engaging curriculum.

· We celebrate diversity through a rich curriculum and through high quality texts.

· We provide opportunities for children to challenge stereotypes.

· We encourage children to take responsibility for their actions through our coherent behaviour policy and restorative practice.

Social

· We foster a sense of community with common inclusive values that ensure that everyone, irrespective of ethnic origin, nationality, gender, ability, sexual orientation and religion feel safe and happy in order to reach their full potential.

· We have strong links with our community.

· Our extended curriculum focuses on topics to embolden children to develop personal qualities for example respect, kindness, forgiveness.

.We provide a conceptual and linguistic framework within which to understand and debate social issues.

· Our innovative, creative curriculum encourages pupils to work together co-operatively and teaches resilience and teamwork skills.

.Our collective worship focuses on topics to embolden children to develop personal qualities for example respect, kindness, forgiveness.

· Our curriculum is centred around creativity allowing children to learn collaboratively through the arts and our forest schools area.
.Each year the school focuses on a different country or continent for a whole school Learning Cycles. The children gain an in depth knowledge as they are fully immersed in the culture of the chosen place.

· We provide opportunities for pupils to explore their own cultural assumptions and values

· We present authentic accounts of the attitudes, values and traditions of diverse cultures.

· We extend pupils’ knowledge and use of cultural image and language recognising and nurturing particular gifts and talents through our exciting sports opportunities and extra-curricular activities.

The official opening of our Spiritual Garden - a labyrinth inspired design. This is a great opportunity for our children to reflect, pause and wonder on the world around them whilst making their way to the centre. 

Aspirational leaders caring for our local environment 

Exploring different Religious Buildings and learning about different Religious Rituals 

A nurturing family at Thornton Dale Primary School - providing opportunities for a range of responsibilities within our school. 

Collective Worship

Collective Worship is inclusive, invitational and inspirational. and a very important time in our school day where we come together and celebrate our Christian values and school vision. Our Collective Worship is a time for reflection and discussion with the children about the theme of the half term and each child has the time to share their thoughts and ideas.

In Collective Worship, children are given the opportunity to praise God for the wonders of the world, to give thanks for God’s love and to learn about and celebrate the shared Christian values and vision which are the heartbeat of our school.

Half termly themes are linked to Biblical teachings and the Global planner. Collective Worship also allows the children to look out of their own experiences and understand the half termly theme within the wider world following the windows, mirror and door concept which is adopted through the Roots and Fruits planning.

Our children are involved in every aspect of our Collective Worship. We have Global changemakers and Spiritual Leaders who plan, deliver and lead weekly Collective Worships. This allows children to take risks, grow in confidence and develop a deeper, reflective approach to their spiritual learning.

Children, teachers, governors and parents are also given the opportunity to evaluate worship and services, ensuring we are always improving our practice to meet the needs of our children and community. This monitoring is overseen by our Religious Education and Christian Distinctiveness Lead -Becky Humphreys. in addition to Reverend Sally and Reverend Joe. 

Collective Worship in our local Church

We hold a termly Collective Worship within our local Church - All Saints. Parents and the wider community are also invited to attend this worship. During this worship, Open the Book team will act out a biblical parable from the bible which links to our half termly value. 

Please see our Collective Worship page for more detail on how Collective Worship is successfully delivered.  https://thorntondale.sites.schooljotter2.com/us-as-a-church-school

Mature reflections based on our value of the week within Collective Worship

Religious Education

Our Religious Education curriculum at Thornton Dale is effective. The provision, profile and priority is all key stages reflect its place on the curriculum within a Church school. Please see our Religious Education page for more detail. https://thorntondale.sites.schooljotter2.com/curriculum/science-1-1-1-2