St Martin’s C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School

Holbeck Hill

Scarborough

North Yorkshire

YO11 3BW

Diocese: York

Local authority: North Yorkshire

Dates of inspection: 19 January 2007

Date of last inspection: 3-5 December 2001

School’s unique reference number: 121615

Headteacher: Miss Stephanie Brown

Inspector’s name and number: Mr Allan Summers 281

School context

Situated in an impressive and commanding position overlooking the sea in a pleasant residential suburb to the south of Scarborough, St Martin’s Church of England Aided Primary School serves not only the local community but  the whole Deanery of Scarborough. It is a large and popular school and the children attending are  predominantly of a white British background.

The distinctiveness and effectiveness of St Martin’s CE Aided Primary School as a Church of England school are outstanding.

St Martin’s exudes an atmosphere of warmth, love, care and prayerful Christian witness. The children are happy, articulate, enjoy the challenges set and achieve highly. Staff led whole heatedly by a most dedicated headteacher, Governors and parents share a unity of purpose and a vision for the furtherance of quality Christian education. The whole learning community lives out its mission in a profoundly caring fashion with religious education providing a pervading and binding influence on the curriculum.

Established strengths

·         A Christian ethos of care and love which underpins and pervades every aspect of the life of the school and in which all learners feel safe, nurtured and valued.

·         Leadership under the guidance of the headteacher and the collegiality of all sections of the learning community in sharing a common purpose.

·         High quality and varied acts of collective worship which are inclusive and engage all who share in them, contributing greatly to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural health and development of the school community.

·         The totality of religious education stemming not only from the established curriculum but from multifarious interactions and opportunities for prayer.

Focus for development

·         There were no major issues identified however to build on the fine work already in evidence, the school should fully embed a robust and comprehensive monitoring and evaluative process within the RE curriculum. 

The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is outstanding at meeting the needs of all learners.

The school in close partnership with the churches in the Deanery is proud to stand at the spiritual heart of the community and the learning ‘family’, because, though a large school, there is a genuine feeling of family nurture within the place, living out its faith in the totality of school experiences. Children are able to articulate the special nature of St Martin’s school, talk about prayer, care for their fellow pupils, care and have joy for the process of learning, in short ‘’following in the footsteps of Jesus’’. A remarkable Christian witness underpins the achievements of all learners, within a framework of inclusiveness to which all subscribe. The school espouses positive attitudes and behaviour is excellent; not a single negative comment was heard. Children feel valued and are encouraged to become partners in the evaluative processes in all facets of learning. There is a culture of making learning fun as children strive towards high standards of achievement.  They grasp enthusiastically the very many extra curricular opportunities on offer from Latin club to the very accomplished school orchestra. Parents actively support the school and are empowered to contribute to its life in many practical ways. Focus groups, starter packs for new entrants and transition being examples of their valued work. 

The impact of collective worship on the school community is outstanding.

Worship at St Martin’s is given appropriate prominence and is quite clearly at the heart of the life of the school. There is a well-planned and varied seven year programme of themes and an evaluation process which is robust and effective involving children and staff. Worship meets all statutory requirements and is conducted in a fashion wholly appropriate to the ages and stages of development of the children. Experiencing worship at St Martin’s is a joy and spiritually uplifting. Children enjoy their involvement and talk animatedly about the variety of personnel who lead the worship, staff clergy and visitors. Particularly effective use is made of lighting, music and silence to set a reverential ambience. Singing is enthusiasticly led by some talented teachers, children play a major part as often as possible and in the ‘standing room only’ family worship the school orchestra is a pleasure to hear. A judicious blend of religious mystery and humour brought a retelling of the ‘Prodigal Son’ story, written very skilfully by a year 6 pupil, to life in a very thought provoking way.  

The effectiveness of the religious education is outstanding.

Religious education has a pervasive and binding influence on the whole curriculum. The thematic approach allows links to develop quite naturally and especially in the expressive and creative arts the outcomes are spectacular. Display is plentiful, vibrant and celebratory and artefacts are tastefully positioned leaving the visitor in no doubt that this is a Christian environment. Policy and practice are informed by the latest guidance and advice is readily accessible from a knowledgeable and skilful coordinator.  A comprehensive assessment regime has been successfully introduced which will build into a valuable resource. The children enjoy their RE and display a high level of understanding. Enriching their experience for every class are sessions of ‘Godly Play’ which stimulated some astonishingly eloquent and articulate responses from a group of seven and eight year olds, considering the creation story. ‘’I think the first day most important because He brought light to the world’’, ‘’all days are important because Jesus made them all’’, being typical of the philosophical discussion that ensued.

The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the school as a church school is outstanding.

This school enjoys a happy, committed and highly motivated staff team led by a dedicated headteacher who is a consummate professional and whole heartedly supported by a first class Governing Body which carries out its responsibilities with sensitivity and rigour. All are passionately keen to provide excellence for all learners. Church status is crucially important. The role of the church and the explicit faith of the management team has created a caring, distinctive learning community rooted firmly in the Christian faith. A clear unity of purpose and vision for continued improvement coupled with sound evaluative processes, which involve the whole school community is ensuring the highest standards. Policies and documentation are cohesive displaying deep thought and careful consideration. St Martin’s rightly enjoys high regard within the local community. Parents are full of praise, supportive and very positive about the quality of their children’s education and the way in which they are being prepared for life beyond the primary phase.