Section 48 Inspection or Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS)
Each Church school and Academy is required to have a Section 48 Inspection for a judgement on its distinctiveness and effectiveness as a Church of England school. A Section 48 Inspection should occur sometime after five years has elapsed following the previous Section 48 Inspection. However, a hiatus in inspections during the pandemic has resulted in a backlog. So, schools not having been inspected since 2018 will wait longer before their inspection is announced. Each academic year, a list of schools to be inspected will be posted on the Church of England Education Office SIAMS webpage here.
The purpose of the SIAMS inspection is to verify the school’s evaluation of its performance in relation to the one key question.
Other documents relating to SIAMS inspections can also be found there:
2023:
It is wise to download these directly from the SIAMS web page to be assured of the most accurate and up to date version.
SIAMS reports from inspections on schools since 2021 can also be found on a link from that page.
For inspections prior to 2021, a report on each church school can be found on the A Church Near You website. In order to find a school’s report, it is necessary to type in the name of the school. A map of the area will appear with a choice of number of churches or church schools. Clicking on ‘church schools’ brings up all the church schools in the area, along with a link to their SIAMS report.
School leaders wishing advice and support with SIAMS matters may contact Jill Stolberg. JillS@cofebirmingham.com