West Monkton Church of England School had a church inspection, by the diocese, on Tuesday 10th December 2019. All Church of England dioceses use the Church of England Education Office's framework for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) in order to inspect their church schools.

The SIAMS inspection focused on the impact of our Christian vision on pupils and adults, looking at the school’s Christian vision (The Fruits of the Spirit) and the provision the school makes because of this vision and how effective this provision is in enabling all pupils to flourish.

The school was inspected on 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 then 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. Building upon the school's 2014 'Outstanding' judgement, we went into the inspection working to prove that the school is 'Excellent,' which is the new wording in the renewed 2018 framework. The renewed framework is extremely challenging in order to achieve the top grade but I am pleased to announce that we achieved the highest grade of 'Excellent’ for both our overall effectiveness and for Collective Worship. This is a fantastic achievement for the school and The Oak Partnership and one we can be incredibly proud of.

We are incredibly pleased to have been given an ‘Excellent’ grading as we feel this supports the work we have undertaken in ensuring all of God’s children are able to flourish. In particular we are pleased the inspector acknowledged how ‘leaders are passionate about the work of this Church school, making decisive decisions to support pupils and families through outstanding pastoral provision,’ and how ‘The vision informs the rich relationships the school has developed, extending the experiences it offers to pupils.’ 

Inspection Summary

Key findings

• The vision inspires leaders and staff to use research to find innovative and creative approaches to meet the needs of all pupils so that they can ‘fly’. The school is seen as a centre of excellence in a number of areas.
• The religious education (RE) leader has a wealth of knowledge and expertise, supporting staff in a number of schools. However, pupils’ understanding of how different faiths influence people’s actions in global communities is less well developed.
• Leaders are passionate about the work of this Church school, making decisive decisions to support pupils and families through outstanding pastoral provision.
• The vision informs the rich relationships the school has developed, extending the experiences it offers to pupils. Excellent relationships with the diocese have led to the innovative post of a pioneer worker, enhancing work between the church, school and community.
• The robustness and quality of the school’s monitoring and evaluation strategies are exceptional. The governors’ ethos team and staff are fully involved, leading to a relentless drive to improve.

Areas for development

• Extend the school’s links with global communities so pupils can give evaluative accounts of how different faiths influence people’s lives.
• Ensure high quality opportunities for reflection are planned which enable pupils to articulate their understanding of the spiritual and ethical dimensions of questions and issues.