SIAMS

Church Schools' Inspection

We have been graded as a 'GOOD' Church School

As a Church of England School we receive regular Diocesan inspections, which take place just after an Ofsted inspection. The purposes of the inspection are:

• to provide an evaluation of the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the church school for the governing body, the school, the parents, the diocese or local church authority, the National Society and the wider public;
• to meet the requirements of Section 48 of the Education Act 2005 for schools which have a religious character;
• to verify the outcome of the school’s self-evaluation;
• to make a significant contribution to improvement in church schools.

As a school we self-evaluate all aspects of the service we provide through an Ofsted Self Evaluation Form, and a Church Schools’ Self Evaluation Form (SEF). These are working documents which are completed with input from school staff, governors, parents and children. Sometimes comments made on the school website or in letters to school are used as evidence of the impact of what we are doing in school. For example, some of the many positive comments we received following the Christmas events will evidence the importance we place on involving parents and friends in our celebrations.

When we are notified of a Section 48 inspection, the SEF is discussed with the inspector, and he or she then assesses the effectiveness of our own evaluation. This is very useful in ensuring we are assessing ourselves accurately.

During the inspection there is one key question that will be explored:

• How effective is the school’s distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling pupils and adults to flourish?

We welcomed Margaret Deller in to our school from 12-16 December; she has provided every class with time in our prayer space. The space was transformed into a reflective space for the week where each class had time to spend pondering questions about God, learning more about the Christmas story and interacting with each of the stations. Margaret led each class through the journey of Christmas and the children responded in a very thoughtful and mature way.