Church school inspections have been suspended until at least the end of this month because of high Covid rates.
The Church of England said statutory inspections of Anglican and Methodist schools (SIAMS) have been put on hold to free up schools to deal with “mitigations for the ongoing pandemic”.
The Church of England said the decision had also been taken to avoid additional personnel coming into schools, which “could add to transmission risk for all concerned”.
SIAMS inspections will not take place at least until the end of January.
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Once inspections resume, schools will receive a week’s notice in line with the normal notification policy, its statement added.
The Church of England’s chief education officer, Nigel Genders, said: “Our priority is for schools to be open and for children to be taught face-to-face for the sake of their mental health and wellbeing.
School inspections suspended because of high Covid rates
“While SIAMS is a key part of setting and maintaining the high standards of wellbeing and Christian distinctiveness in our schools, this temporary suspension recognises the additional workload currently created by Covid-19, and is to give schools additional space to focus on the priority of keeping schools open.”
Ofsted inspections have not been suspended this term. However, the watchdog’s schedule is likely to be scaled back after the Department for Education announced that serving headteachers would not be expected to carry out inspection work.
This means that while this temporary measure is in place the majority of Ofsted’s inspection workforce is unavailable.
The DfE has also said that schools that have been significantly impacted by Covid staff absence should ask the watchdog to defer their inspections.
The inspectorate has not been inspecting secondary schools this week to allow for the on-site Covid testing of returning students.
SIAMS inspections take place for Church of England and Methodist schools approximately every five years in addition to Ofsted inspections.
These inspections ask the question: “How effective is the school’s distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling pupils and adults to flourish?”
The inspections were put on hold in March 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and resumed in the 2021 autumn term.
Around 4,700 schools are covered by SIAMS inspections.
