SIAMS
All Church of England dioceses and the Methodist Church use the Church of England Education Office's framework for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The SIAMS Evaluation Schedule sets out the expectations for the conduct of the Statutory Inspection of Anglican, Methodist and ecumenical Schools under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005.
SIAMS inspection plays an important role in the improvement of Church schools by affirming that which is effective and by highlighting key areas for improvement. By focusing on impact above all else, SIAMS explores ways in which each school’s theologically rooted Christian vision drives the work, and enables the school to live up to its foundation as a Church school.
SIAMS inspectors explore the impact of the school's vision with school and trust leaders within the specific context of the school, and whether they know how to respond to it theologically. Inspectors use three key questions in order to guide this process:
- Who are we as a school?
- What are we doing here?
- How, then, shall we live and learn together?
The SIAMS Framework highlights and seeks understanding of the theology that underpins a school’s Christian vision. It also provides a structure for inspectors and school and trust leaders to, collaboratively, gather evidence of how this vision enables people to flourish. Using this evidence, inspectors then make judgements, holding school and trust leaders to account.
Having evaluated the evidence, SIAMS inspectors award the school one of two judgements. We underwent a statutory inspection in September 2023 and our inspector awarded our school a Judgement 1 which states: 'Through its vision and practice, the school is living up to its foundation as a Church school and is enabling pupils and adults to flourish.' The Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools(SIAMS) report may be viewed below.