We take pride in our inclusivity – it is a key part of our vision. You do not need to be a Christian to come to All Saints’ – many of our families belong to other faiths, or have no faith. Parents have told us that they are keen for their child to receive an education grounded in Christian values, without necessarily being Christians themselves. One of the values we teach is Respect – and this includes respecting other people’s beliefs and views.

To find out more, please visit our Vision and Values page.

Collective Worship lasts for about 30 minutes each day. It is a time when we all gather together as a school. We welcome a wide range of speakers and mark special events throughout the year, not just Christmas and Easter, but also Harvest, Remembrance Day, Epiphany and many more. Each half term we focus on a particular value, which we explore through stories, singing, prayer and activities. It is made very clear that children only say ‘Amen’ if they wish to make a prayer their own.

To find out more, please see ‘Collective Worship at All Saints’ on our Vision and Values page.

Religious Education is very important in a Church school – so important that we asked our children how they viewed it and in response we re-named it at All Saints’ as ‘Beliefs, Religions and Values Education’ – or BRAVE for short. We are ‘up-front’ that this is a Christian School – and we hope that this would be obvious to any visitor – but we do not just teach Christianity: we want our children to develop a knowledge and understanding of a wide range of religions, so that in later life they will be able to make informed decisions and help build a strong society. We know that many of our pupils go on to study RE at GCSE, and we are proud that secondary school teachers have told us that our former pupils stand out because of their knowledge and their ability to question and test ideas.

To find out more, please visit our BRAVE page.

Our Church links

CE stands for Church of England – like very many English schools, our school was founded by the Church of England in the 19th century, to extend the benefits of education to all. We are pleased that our links with All Saints Church, just round the corner, continue to this day; not only is the vicar one of our governors and a regular visitor in school, but the Church kindly allows us to visit to hold special whole-school services several times a year, when all families are very welcome to attend. In 2018, All Saints’ joined the St Edmundsbury Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), because it shares our values and our focus upon providing children with the best possible education.

To find out more, please visit our Ethos and Aims page and the MAT website.

SIAMS

As well as being inspected by OFSTED, CE schools are also examined by the ‘Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools’ (SIAMS). SIAMs has moved away from making an overall judgement (such as the old classifications of ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’), and schools are measured on how well they meet 7 criteria:

1. how the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision enables pupils and adults to flourish
2. how the curriculum reflects the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision
3. how Collective Worship is enabling pupils and adults to flourish spiritually
4. how the School vision creates a culture in which everybody is treated well
5. how the School vision creates an active culture of justice and responsibility
6. how the Religious Education curriculum is effective
7. the quality of the Religious Education

All Saints’ was last inspected by SIAMS in May 2024, and we were thrilled with the outcome. The Inspector concluded that “The inspection findings indicate that All Saints' Church of England Primary School is living up to its foundation as a Church school.” He judged our strengths to be:

• Adults and pupils flourish at All Saints' as a result of its aspirational and inclusive Christian vision. Its impact changes lives and equips people to grow and be the best they can.
• The school’s curriculum provides ‘knowledge gems’ that are challenging and enable pupils to become critical thinkers. Adaptions are made to meet pupils’ wide-ranging needs, resulting in transformational moments in their lives.
• Collective worship reflects the deep Christian roots of the school and is central to this vibrant worshipping community. A secure understanding of spirituality enables pupils and adults to flourish by encouraging them to be curious and reflective.
• Positive relationships underpin this school and are enriched by the pupils holding roles of responsibility within the community. All Saints' serves, and is served by its community, enabling pupils and adults to thrive.
• Religious education (RE) is well planned and promotes enquiry which drives the whole approach to learning. RE has a high profile and enables pupils to appreciate a range of beliefs leading to them understanding diversity.

At All Saints’ we are committed to being the best Church School we can be – this means living by our values and constantly reviewing our performance to check that we are supporting all school members – children, staff, families and volunteers – to meet the demands of life in this particular place and time. The SIAMS Inspector gave us one area for development and this is already in hand:

• Develop planned opportunities in the curriculum that explore injustice and inequality. This is so pupils can make informed decisions when leading social action projects

The full report is available on our Performance page.

To find out more about SIAMS, please click on the button below.