About Ofsted and SIAS
As a Church of England school we are inspected by two different bodies, Ofsted and SIAS, each placing a different focus on what we have to offer our children.
Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. They report directly to Parliament and are independent and impartial. They inspect all schools in England. The aim of their inspections are to provide information to parents , to promote improvement and to hold schools to account for the public money they receive. Notice of an inspection is normally given the afternoon before the inspection and usually takes two days to complete.
From the Ofsted Guide for Parents:
“Inspectors look at the school’s self-evaluation and analyse the pupils’ progress and attainment. They talk to the headteacher, governors, staff, and pupils, and consider your views as a parent. They spend most of their time observing a wide range of lessons and looking at the quality of teaching in the school, and its impact on learning and progress. They also look at the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school, the promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; and how well the school is led and managed.
We give schools an overall grade from 1 to 4: grade 1 (outstanding)
grade 2 (good) grade 3 (requires improvement) grade 4 (inadequate).
The lead inspector reports her or his judgement to the headteacher and governors. The inspectors’ findings are published in a report for the school, parents and the wider community. Inspection reports provide information about the effectiveness of the school’s work and contain recommendations about what the school should do to improve further.”
The full Ofsted School Inspection Guide for Parents can be found
here.
SIAS is the Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools. The principal objective of a SIAS inspection is to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a church school.
The process is equally as rigorous as the Ofsted inspection, but focuses on the teaching of RE, the ethos of the school, Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE), Collective Worship and Pastoral Care. As with Ofsted, the inspectors judgements are rated on a scale of 1 to 4.
For further information about SIAS, click here.
St Stephens Ofsted Reports
St Stephen’s was last fully inspected in 2007 and was judged ‘Outstanding’ in all areas and achieved an overall judgement of ‘Outstanding’.
Here are just some of the inspectors comments:
“... an outstanding school where pupils receive a first class quality of education.”
“Pupils attain extremely high standards in all subjects.”
“The excellent use of specialist tuition such as sports coaching and musicians promotes pupils’ learning very well.”
“Personal development and well-being are outstanding.”
"The teaching of the enthusiastic and highly motivated staff is outstanding."
Schools that are judged to be outstanding are exempt from routine full testing but are subject to interim inspections to determine if a full inspection might be necessary.
An interim inspection was last carried out in July of 2010 and the inspectors deferred our next full inspection.
“Our interim assessment shows that the school’s performance has been sustained and that we can defer its next full inspection.”
Ofsted Interim Report 2010
Our most recent Ofsted report is available to view on the Ofsted website.
"The teaching of the enthusiastic and
highly motivated staff is outstanding."
Ofsted Report 2007
St Stephens SIAS Report
St Stephens was last fully inspected by SIAS in May 2012 and was once again judged as ‘Outstanding’.
The inspectors reported: “St Stephens is an outstanding learning community inspired by Christian values. It has exemplary and encouraging leadership. Children are highly valued and develop as confident and caring individuals within the strong and tangible Christian ethos which permeates all areas of the school’s life.”
- A caring, loving, family community based firmly on the principles and values of the Christian faith
- Excellent behaviour and relationships
- Outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
- A strong, inspiring and influential Christian ethos
- Outstanding spiritual leadership from the Head and others in the leadership team”
SIAS Report May 2012
Children are very happy in school. The unanimous agreement of a group of school council members was that they “loved everything about the school!”
SIAS Report May 2012
Continuous Improvement
We are proud of our record of achievement in attaining ‘Outstanding’ status. Yet, we strive to continuously improve, believing that this is how our success and that of our children can be sustained.
“It is the school leadership’s intention that through the life of the school all should be “truly nourished” and that all involved in the school community should experience “life in all its fullness.”
SIAS Report May 2012
“A great variety of experiences and opportunities are offered to children through the curriculum, to enhance their self-esteem and to enable all to achieve.”
SIAS Report May 2012
More Information
To view our Ofsted reports on the Ofsted website.
To view our SIAS reports on the SIAS website.
For more information on Ofsted.
For further information about SIAS.
