Scheduling of Inspections
The Church of England provided guidance on SIAMS inspections (September 2021) which outlined the main points for schools to note regarding the scheduling of inspections.
- Until all schools have received their first SIAMS inspection in the ‘post-COVID’ suspension years, legislation requires that inspection will be carried out within eight years of the date of the previous inspection. Thereafter, scheduling will return to a five-year cycle.
- Currently, SIAMS inspections will usually take place between one and two years after the academic year in which they would have taken place before the COVID-related suspension. There will, however, be some exemptions to this.
- It is not currently possible to precisely calculate the academic year of a school’s next SIAMS inspection. An estimate can be obtained by contacting us at the Diocese.
- A list is published annually during the summer term each year of schools that are expected to have their SIAMS inspection during the following academic year. This will continue to take place for the duration of the first cycle of inspections following the resumption of inspections following COVID. Please click here for the list of schools likely to be inspected in 2025-26 (see page 10 for church schools in our Diocese).
- A completely new SIAMS inspection framework was implemented in autumn 2023. A revised version was published in 2024. This is the current version of the SIAMS framework that church schools need to work to. For further information, please click here.
Christian Vision
The Christian Vision and the impact of the vision remain central to the inspection as specified in the revised inspection schedule.
SIAMS will ask questions about how the school’s Christian vision underpins decisions re curriculum and assessment and how the positive impact of these decisions affects the flourishing of children and adults. ‘Flourishing’ relates to the ‘whole person’ not simply the academic achievement of pupils.
RE
Amendments to RE relate to VA and former VA schools only. The emphasis during inspection will be on:
- the curriculum;
- how it enables pupils to progress in their learning; and
- how schools assess this.
Note: No presentation of RE data is allowed during inspection.
Judgements
From September 2023, SIAMS replaced the grading system with judgements. Following inspection, church schools will now be judged as either:
- 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.’ Or
- 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. These are listed in the areas for development.’
See the 2024 SIAMS inspection framework document here for details on how inspectors arrive at their judgements.
Self-Evaluation and the SIAMS SEF
A full and detailed SIAMS SEF document is no longer required. Instead, church schools are asked to consider their self-evaluation as having two purposes:
- Ongoing self-evaluation for the ongoing purposes of assisting the school to consider its development as a church school and formulate an action plan which prioritises its ‘next steps.’
- Impact-driven summary self-evaluation in preparation for inspection.
There is no required format, however, the national team offer suggested templates. There are available here (please scroll down to Public SIAMS documents)
SIAMS resources and Support
Please see the SIAMS resources page for updated Information for Schools document that contains a summary of the self-evaluation guidance.
For resources to help you prepare for the SIAMS inspection of your school, please click here.
For information on Diocesan support and SIAMS support visits, please click here