The Church of England has extended the suspension of its school inspections into next month and warned it would be “unfair and unwise” to resume them while schools are still facing Covid staff absences.
Statutory inspections of Anglican and Methodist schools (SIAMS) had been put on hold until the end of January to allow schools to deal with the pandemic and to avoid the risk of spreading the virus.
Schools have now been told that this suspension is being extended until at least Monday 28 February as long “as the situation for schools eases”.
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A letter from the national director of SIAMS, Dr Margaret James, said: “I have made the decision to extend the suspension of SIAMS inspection and, therefore, not to resume at the end of January.
“The situation with Covid-related staff absences is still not, in my opinion, sufficiently settled across the country to warrant a resumption
“It appears that a large number of schools are still managing difficulties that are of comparable severity to those that were present at the time of the original suspension.
“This means that the reasons that led to the decision to suspend inspection are still present for a large number of schools, rendering resumption unwise and unfair.”
High rates of teacher absence
The latest attendance data from the DfE shows that 24 per cent of all state-funded schools had a teacher and leader absence of more than 15 per cent last week.
The Church of England announced the suspension of inspections at the beginning of the new term amid concerns over the level of staff absence the Omicron variant of Covid was likely to cause.
Ofsted inspections have not been paused during this period.
At the beginning of the year, the Department for Education announced that Ofsted would only be using its full-time HMI inspectors, and school leaders and heads who were also contracted inspectors would not be expected to work for Ofsted.
However, last week it was announced that Ofsted would be inviting school leaders to inspect for them again from Monday 31 January.
The DfE has said that schools who are facing significant Covid-related staff absence can ask for their inspection to be deferred.
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?”
Like Ofsted inspections, they were put on hold in March 2020 after the Covid crisis hit the country and resumed in the 2021 autumn term.
Around 4,700 schools are covered by SIAMS inspections.
Schools being inspected from Monday, 28 February will be notified the week before, the Church of England has said. It also said its schedule would take account of the fact that some schools will be on half term.
