Ofsted

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills. Ofsted inspect services providing education and skills for learners of all ages. They also inspect and regulate services that care for children and young people. Ofsted is a non-ministerial department.

In 2013, Ofsted inspect St. Thomas' and graded our school as Outstanding in all areas. To read the full report, please click on the link below. 

SIAMS

All Church of England dioceses and the Methodist Church use the Church of England Education Office's framework for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005.  The SIAMS Evaluation Schedule sets out the expectations for the conduct of the Statutory Inspection of Anglican, Methodist and ecumenical Schools under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005.

SIAMS inspection focuses on the impact of the Church school's Christian vision on pupils and adults. This involves looking at the school’s Christian vision, the provision the school makes because of this vision and how effective this provision is in enabling all pupils to flourish. Church schools will employ a variety of strategies and styles appropriate to, and reflective of, their particular context in order to be distinctively and effectively Christian in their character and ethos. SIAMS inspectors therefore do not look for a set template of what a Church school should be like, but rather take the particular context of the school into account and base their evaluation on the outcomes rather than the process.

The Evaluation Schedule has one inspection 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? 

This is explored through seven strands:

Vision and Leadership 

Wisdom, Knowledge and Skills 

Character Development: Hope, Aspiration and Courageous Advocacy

Community and Living Well Together 

Dignity and Respect 

The impact of collective worship

The effectiveness of religious education  

One overall grade is awarded reflecting the contribution of these strands to the flourishing of pupils and adults in a Church school. In addition a standalone grade is awarded in all schools for collective worship and in voluntary aided (VA) schools and former VA schools for religious education (RE). This grade is based on teaching and learning alone.