Assembly is one of the highlights of the school day, and the music is loud and joyous. Mrs Booth describes it as a lesson for “the mind, body and soul” and the hall is packed with children dancing and singing.

When she joined St Nicholas as head teacher in 2019, the school was rated Inadequate by the schools inspectors at Ofsted. Morale was low and the school was failing children and staff. Five years on, St Nicholas is rated as Good and is part of the Infinity Academies Trust. Their motto is “let your light shine”, and the school emblem is a lighthouse.

“It’s important for us to provide sanctuary,” Mrs Booth says. “You know you’ll be loved, you’ll be fed, watered, and you’ll get a hug on the gate.”

Mrs Smith has been a teacher here for 21 years. She describes the huge changes she’s seen since she began teaching.

“When I first started working in schools the children were dropped off, we taught them, and they went home,” she says. “Now we help them with their food, we help them brush their teeth, we help them with behaviour, we help them with general life.

“How can we not help a child who is hungry or doesn’t have clothes?”