Purpose and Focus of SIAMS Inspections

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.

SIAMS inspections focuses on the impact of Church school’s Christian vision on both pupils and adults. This involves looking at the school’s Christian vision, the provision the school makes because of this vision, and how effective this provision is in enabling all pupils to flourish.

Church schools will employ a variety of strategies and styles appropriate to their particular context in order to be distinctively and effectively Christian in their character and ethos. SIAMS inspectors therefore do not look for a set template of what a Church school should be like, but rather take the particular context of the school into account and base their evaluation on the outcomes rather than the process.

Having evaluated the evidence made available under the six/seven IQs, the inspector will award the school one of the two following judgements.
J1: The inspection findings indicate that the school is living up to its foundation as a Church school, and is enabling pupils and adults to flourish.
J2: The inspection findings indicate that the school has strengths, but that there are also issues that leaders need to address as a matter of priority.