A guide to the inspection process

Ten school days before the date of the inspection, the school will be contacted by telephone by the Section 50 Inspection and Foundation Governor Support Coordinator to inform them of the date of their inspection and the name of the inspector (and peer inspector/s if attending).

If the Central Education Office is unable to make contact with the school by telephone, they will send an email with details of the inspection, requesting confirmation of receipt.

The Section 50 Inspection and Foundation Governor Support Coordinator will email the appropriate Diocesan Director of Education and named local authority contact to inform them of the school to be inspected, the date of the inspection and the name of the inspector (and peer inspector/s, if attending).

The Section 50 Inspection and Foundation Governor Support Coordinator will email the school with links to a parent/carer letter and parent/carer survey for the school to circulate to all parents/carers as soon as possible and at least five school days before the inspection takes place. Links to learner surveys will also be emailed for use with learners in school up to five school days before the inspection.

Later the same day, the inspector will contact the school to speak with the headteacher or, in their absence, to the most senior member of staff available to arrange a discussion on the following:

• The school’s Christian vision and its theological roots.
• Information about how school is organised
• Information about leadership and governance structure.
• Key partners and collaborations, including church(es)
• Number on roll (NOR)
• Planned admissions number (PAN) and number of church places (VA)
• Number of learners currently withdrawn from collective worship (if any) and the number of families this represents
• Information about RVE:
  • How RVE is organised
  • Who teaches RVE
  • Syllabus followed (if secondary)
  • Additional resources
• Information about collective worship (if not outlined in policy or on website):
  • How it is organised
  • Who manages it
• Contextual factors:
  • ALN - is this above/below/in line with national averages
  • Pupil deprivation - is this above/below/in line with national averages
  • Ethnicity- how ethnically diverse is the school pupil population
  • Percentage of learners who speak English as an Additional Language
  • Pupil mobility
  • Service children
  • Attendance -percentage year to date/previous 12 months?
  • Persistent absence - percentage year to date/previous 12 months?
  • Exclusions- year to date/previous 12 months?
  • Staff turnover, stability and recent significant appointments?
  • Significant events in the life of the school, including trauma, bereavement etc.

The inspector will ask the school to forward its school development plan (SDP) and any self-evaluation documentation.

The inspector will also discuss the draft timetable and will ask the headteacher to begin to draw together some elements of the inspection day. The inspection day will consist of a number of meetings that will largely provide opportunities for discussions about the lines of enquiry (LOE). It is likely therefore that the draft timetable will need to change before being finalised nearer the inspection following the inspector’s initial scrutiny of evidence.

Once the inspector has received the school’s evidence, they will note inspection lines of enquiry (LOE) which can be found in the Forms and Templates section.

The inspector will email the potential lines of enquiry to the school 48 hours before the start of the inspection. This is so that the school has insight into the type of evidence that the inspectors require. They will use the evidence provided by the school, as well as the school website and other publicly available information.

The day before the inspection, the inspector will telephone the headteacher to clarify understanding of the LOE and to finalise the timetable.

The inspector will plan to be in the school by 12pm on Day 1 and to leave by 1pm on Day 2. The school should ensure that the inspector has a private place to work.

At the end of the inspection, the inspector will provide the school with provisional findings together with any provisional areas for development, which are subject to quality assurance. Please note: provisional findings and provisional areas for development may change during the quality assurance process.

Representatives from the Diocesan Education Team will be spoken to as part of the evidence gathering process and they should be invited by the school to attend the final feedback meeting, either in person or via a video link.

The outcome of the inspection remains confidential to the school team and those present at the final feedback until the final report has been received.

The inspector will outline the timescale and protocol for the school’s receipt of the draft report for factual accuracy checks.

Should the school wish to raise a concern, that it has not been possible to resolve on the day of the inspection or which they have not felt comfortable raising during the final feedback, they should follow the Section 50 Complaints Policy, which is available from the Central Education Office.

The inspector will usually send the school the draft report for factual accuracy checks within 15 working days of the inspection. If it is anticipated that there will be a delay to this timeline, the inspector will contact the headteacher to alert them to this.

If, during the quality assurance process, it is deemed that the findings are insecure, the inspector will make the appropriate changes and will inform the school immediately.

Once the quality assurance process is complete, the inspector will send the draft report to the headteacher for a factual accuracy check. The school should respond within 24 hours of receipt. At this stage, only factually inaccurate amendments will be made, unless the inspection is subject to a complaint.

If the inspection is subject to a complaint when the draft report is received, or if the school decides at that point that they intend to raise a complaint, they should follow the appropriate policy and not accept the draft report.

Once the report has been finalised, it must be published on the school’s website.

Leaders must draw up an action plan or include in the School Development Plan the steps that will be taken to address the recommendations identified by the inspector. They will be supported by their Diocesan Director of Education who will monitor the school’s progress in meeting the recommendations.

Where effective and innovative practice has been identified, a school may be asked to write a case study as a means of sharing this practice more widely.