SIAS - "Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools"

All Church of England and Interchurch schools will have a SIAS Inspection within a few weeks of a school's OFSTED Inspection

	The overarching question behind any SIAS is: *" How distinctive and effective is this school as a Church of England School?"*
	Four key questions are used to approach it:
	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? (VA schools only) How effective are the leadership and management of the school as a Church school?
	SIAS Reports are succinct (two pages only) and include clear evaluation statements, using the OFSTED terms, outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate, in response to each of the key questions.
	Inspections are carried out by inspectors registered with the National Society and trained by them or through our own local consortium - ChurchschoolsEast The Consortium works across the Dioceses of Ely, Norwich and St Edmundsbury & Ipswich.
	The SIAS process is regulated by Section 48 of the Education Act 2005 and Inspectors are paid by the DCSF via the National Society.
	SIAS Reports are public documents and are posted on both this website and that of the National Society.

Preparing for an inspection in your school

	The first step is to engage with the process of self-evaluation.....
	Schools, of course, have to be able to describe and explain how they are distinctive and effective as Church Schools and be able to provide evidence to substantiate their claims. Some schools will find this easier than others to do - what materials are available to help them?
		The National Society has developed a Toolkit to support schools with the self- evaluation process. This is a substantial Word document. It is intended to be exactly what its name implies – a toolkit to help schools to review their distinctive church school life. It unpacks and thoroughly explores a wide range of aspects of each of four key inspection questions in order to highlight for schools all the evidence they may have, or be able to gather, under these headings. Although this is a useful document, schools who use it should not feel constrained by its format if there are other parts of their church shool life if they wish to celebrate and include.
	The three ChurchschoolsEast Dioceses have developed ana alternative self -evaluation document (a SIAS SEF)which runs parallel to the National Toolkit and may be used by schools in East Anglia instead of, or in parallel with, the Toolkit. There is also on this website a "Son of SEF" - this is a more succinct document than the rather large SEF and helps schools to focus on the key questions rather than on lengthy cataloguing of provision - we would recommend schools try this out as they embark on their second round of SIAS.
	Like all good self-evaluation these documents are not something to be filled out solely for the purposes of inspection, but should be part of a school's ongoing cycle of improvement, feeding into the School Improvement Plan (SIP) or School Development Plan (SDP). When filling them in you are encouraged to:
	Take your time; starting small and covering the ground systematically Involve foundation governors in working with the materials, as well as appropriate staff. (Ely schools may also use the Bishops School Visitor). Listen to learners, parents and stakeholders
		The cycle of self-evaluation continues once an inspection has taken place. Following an inspection the school should be in a good position to understand what needs to be done to improve. You will find a number of exciting ideas of things that are happening in other East Anglian Church Schools in the Good Practice Gallery, which we hope will inspire you.
	In-school training and support for governors and staff on the SIAS materials and Church School Distinctiveness can be arranged through your Diocese.

When the Inspector comes ...

SIAS takes place according to the same cycle as OFSTED and schools should contact the Diocese immediately OFSTED has made contact with them, so that their SIAS inspection can be set up to follow the OFSTED as closely as possible (within four weeks).

Legally, it is the Foundation Governors who are collectively responsible for the implementation of the SIAS.

Unlike OFSTED, governors themselves can express a preference over both the timing of the inspection and the choice of registered inspector to employ.

The National Society for Promoting Religous Education

ChurchschoolsEast supports Church School Improvement in the Dioceses of Ely, Norwich and St Edmundsbury & Ipswich

Copyright © ChurchschoolsEast, 2008, 2009 - Page last updated 16 December, 2009 : Web design, Chris Wall, 2008 , 2009