The distinctiveness and effectiveness of Bayford Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School and Nursery are outstanding.
SIAMS inspection report 2017
What is SIAMS?
Every school which belongs to the Church of England is subject to a SIAMS inspection. The Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) is the Church of England and Methodist Church’s outworking of the requirements of section 48 of the Education Act 2005. It is a key element of the life of all Church of England and Methodist schools in England. A SIAMS inspection normally takes place every 5 years. Unlike Ofsted, the SIAMS inspection focuses on the impact of the Church school’s Christian vision on 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.
How SIAMS works
In some ways SIAMS is rather like an Ofsted inspection, in that an inspector visits the school, gathers information, meets parents, staff, governors, and pupils, and then goes away and writes a report. Another similarity is that the report is also published.
One way in which SIAMS differs from Ofsted is in the focus of the inspection. SIAMS inspectors look at six specific inspection questions:
IQ1: How does the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision enable pupils and adults to flourish?
IQ2: How does the curriculum reflect the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision?
IQ3: How is collective worship enabling pupils and adults to flourish spiritually?
IQ4: How does the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision create a culture in which pupils and adults are treated well?
IQ5: How does the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision create an active culture of justice and responsibility?
IQ6: Is the religious education curriculum effective (with reference to the expectations set out in the Church of England’s Statement of Entitlement for Religious Education)?
Another key difference is that SIAMS inspectors do not grade the school, nor do they have any 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.
SIAMS inspectors make one of two judgements:
‘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.’
‘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.’
You can find out more about SIAMS from the Church of England’s national site.
Our most recent inspection
We were last inspected in July 2017 under an earlier, more-Ofsted-like, SIAMS inspection framework. We were judged to be an outstanding school, the highest grade possible. In normal times SIAMS inspectors would have visited us again in 2022, but due to the Covid pandemic the inspection schedule was delayed across the country and we are currently listed for insection in the current school year 2024-25. Our next inspection will be under the latest (2024) inspection framework.
You can download the 2017 inspection report using the button below.
This page was last updated on 9th September 2024