• News
• What we do
• Our schools
• Help for Schools
• School Buildings
• Governors
• Training and Events
• SIAS
• Clergy

SIAS

Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools (SIAS)

In September 2009 the Office for standards in education (Ofsted) introduced a revised framework for inspection under Section 5 of the Education Act 2005. To complement this The National Society, in partnership with all Dioceses in England, developed a revised framework for the inspection of Voluntary schools.

The principal objective of the SIAS inspection is to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a Church of England school. Four Key Questions are set out which address the impact that an Anglican Church school has on the learners, as a Church school. These are:

• How well does the school, through its distinctive Christian character, meet the needs of all learners?
• What is the impact of collective worship on the school community?
• How effective is the religious education?
• How effective are the leadership and management of the school as a church school?

The focus for SIAS will be school self-evaluation. To support schools, the National Society, has developed a self-evaluation toolkit. This explores each of the questions in more detail, and gives space for evidence and evaluation. The revised framework and the toolkit can be found on the National Society's website.

What does SIAS mean for an Anglican school?

• Inspections will be triggered by a Section 5 Ofsted inspection – this could be every three years or up to six years depending upon the Ofsted grade given to the school and other criteria (see Ofsted framework for possible triggers www.ofsted.gov.uk).
• Notification will normally be within a few days of the Ofsted inspection
• The SIAS inspection will normally take place within three weeks of the Ofsted inspection
• In this Diocese Ofsted and SIAS inspections do not run concurrently
• The Governing Body must consult with the Diocese before choosing an inspector accredited either by the Diocese or by the National Society
• Focus will be on the school’s self-evaluation as indicated in the National Society Toolkit and SEF.
• The impact of RE on the school’s Christian character will be inspected in VC schools as well as VA
• For VA the quality, standards and impact of RE will continue to be inspected
• Inspectors will be in school for one day in a primary school and up to two days in a secondary
• There will be no parents’ meeting prior to inspection
• A written report will be given to the school within 2 weeks or as soon as possible after the inspection
• The report will be no longer than two sides of A4 and focused on judgements based on a 4 level scale: 1 Outstanding; 2 Good; 3 Satisfactory and 4 Inadequate
• The report will be written to a prescriptive formula, it will be accessible, succinct, evaluative and no more than 750 words in length
• SIAS Inspectors undertake national and regional training to ensure that the required skills have been developed in order to make secure judgements based on the SEF & Toolkit and on securing evidence for those judgements.
• All inspectors require a high level of knowledge and understanding of RE and its implications in VC, Foundation and VA schools

All the documents and advice you'll need to can be found here.