Context of our School Improvement Plan: 

When Mary heard the news that she would be the mother of God's son Jesus, the angel Gabriel told her “For nothing will be impossible with God”. For Christians, that means that every person's life is a unique gift from God, and as a school community we want every child to grow in the fullness of life God gives. This is reflected in our school vision statement:

'Have faith… In yourself…in others…in God'.

"For nothing will be impossible with God."

Luke 1:37

Later, when Jesus began the work God gave him, he chose a diverse group of friends and followers, everyone from fishermen to tax collectors. Even when he knew they would struggle and make mistakes, Jesus still had faith in his friends. One of Jesus' friends, St Peter, later wrote that “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” Peter wanted to encourage us to recognise that God works in our lives and helps us live well together. When we are all different, Jesus invites us to be His friends and leaves no-one out. In our school community, we celebrate the gifts and skills each child brings and encourage children to bless and serve others in a variety of ways.

At Lancaster Christ Church we value the individuality of our children and their various curriculum strengths and interests. As a school, we aim to provide opportunities for children to build upon these to become the best that they can be. We are proud of our varied demographic and ensure that all children have opportunities to be successful, therefore we have designed a curriculum which encourages all children to flourish as individuals, the intent of which is rooted in 1 Peter 4:10:

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

School Improvement Priorities 2025 - 2027

The areas for improvement for the 2025 - 2027 academic years are identified as:

Church School Distinctiveness:

Priority:  To develop a shared understanding of spirituality and use this to enrich the way that pupils and adults have opportunities to flourish spirituality, through planned and progressive experiences in the curriculum.

• A shared understanding of spirituality and what it means to our school.
• Development of Spirituality through Worship.
• Develop Spirituality through Reflection.
• Planned and progressive experiences to develop spirituality across the curriculum.
• Develop opportunities for Courageous Advocacy as part of the curriculum.
• Share our approach to the development of spirituality with parents, carers and the wider community.

Inclusion:

Priority: To develop provision for children with SEND so that all children can flourish.

• Effective leadership and management of SEND provision.
• Classroom environments which support inclusivity.
•  Teaching methodologies which support inclusivity.
• Staff who confident in meeting the diverse needs of the children within their class.
• Effective implementation of a range of evidence-based interventions to support children with SEND.
• Embed use of provision and resources to support regulation.
• Exploration of an alternative curriculum offer for our children with the most complex needs.

Curriculum and Teaching:

Priority: To continue to develop the role of Subject Leaders in ensuring that curriculum and teaching are consistently in line with the expected standard.

• Ensure curriculum is implemented in line with leaders’ intentions and that teachers teach the subject curriculum effectively, focusing on the most important knowledge or concepts, presenting information clearly, checking pupils’ understanding systematically and adapting their teaching appropriately.
• Ensure that all staff are aware of children who have not yet secured foundational knowledge and monitor action taken to secure this.
• Using assessment effectively to inform teaching and learning, and to help pupils embed key concepts, use knowledge fluently and develop their understanding.
• Develop Subject Action Plans to ensure that monitoring feeds directly into areas for improvement.

Attendance and Behaviour:

Priority: Support sustained good attendance by all pupils.

• Ensure familiarity and compliance with ‘Working Together to improve school attendance’ (August 2024).
• Continued engagement with the Local Authority via Attendance Network and relevant training.
• Develop monitoring and tracking systems for children who are at risk of becoming persistently absent.
• Additional support and intervention for children experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).
• Strengthen communication with parents in relation to attendance and the impact of absence on children’s progress and attainment including the implementation of a tired response system.

Priority: Continued development of approaches to supporting behaviour across school.

• A clear picture of where we are currently.
• Staff who are confident in supporting behaviour through clear and consistent approaches.
• An environment where positive behaviour is celebrated.
• Consistent routines and expectations.
• Target support and intervention in specific areas.
• Targeted support for vulnerable children.
• Effective monitoring of behaviour related incidents.

Early Years:

Priority: Increase the percentage of pupils achieving a GLD at the end of the Foundation Stage so that it is at least in line with National average.

• Analysis of LSIP / IDSR to identify key areas for development.
• Enhance Early Literacy and Numeracy Provision.
• Implementation of evidence based, targeted support for identified children.
• Ensure ongoing, high quality professional development for all EYFS staff.
• Enrich the learning environment.
• Monitor and review children’s progress.