Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools

SIAMS stands for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools. All Church of England dioceses and the Methodist Church use the National Society's framework as a process for evaluating the extent to which church schools are "distinctively and recognisably Christian". All Church of England Schools receive a Section 48 Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) in addition to the regular Section 5 Ofsted inspection.  These inspections take place on a five year cycle.

A new and more rigorous schedule for SIAMS inspections was introduced in 2018. Under this new schedule, the bar for schools has been raised with the old ‘outstanding’ grade being merged into the new ‘good’. Good is now the 'gold standard' for church schools.

Inspection focus

SIAMS inspection focuses on the effect that the Christian ethos of the church school has on the children and young people who attend it. Church schools will employ a variety of strategies and styles, which reflect their particular local context or church tradition in order to be distinctive and effective. Inspectors will, therefore, not be looking to apply a preconceived template of what a church school should be like.

The principal objective of SIAMS inspection is to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a church school.

This new evaluation schedule has one overarching inspection question: 

How effective is the school’s distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels (including governors), in enabling pupils and adults to flourish?

This question is evaluated through seven strands:

• Strand 1: Vision and Leadership
• Strand 2: Wisdom, Knowledge and Skills
• Strand 3: Character Development: Hope, Aspiration and Courageous Advocacy
• Strand 4: Community and Living Well Together
• Strand 5: Dignity and Respect
• Strand 6: The impact of collective worship
• Strand 7: The effectiveness of religious education

We are proud to be judged as a ‘good’ school in our SIAMS Inspection 2022. To read the last SIAMS report please see below: