Impact case study database

The research demonstrated that effective community building around shared values was a central part of the self-identified ‘mission’ which socially and religiously diverse church schools. To explore how to translate specific instances of good practice from our findings into effective practice in the wider RE sector, the team hosted ‘town hall’ meetings in the schools where the research took place, with over thirty participants across the four schools. These meetings, in the Autumn of 2019, served to disseminate the findings of the research and to facilitate dialogue and planning for scalable approaches amongst community stakeholders. The project also began conversations begun within the schools about religious diversity among teachers, governors, and parents. The publication of the Diversity and Success in Church Schools booklet allowed schools to share their own good practices in a national context (see support letters R1-5).

Feedback from school leaders and governors in these meetings suggested that SIAMS reports on inspections conducted using the new (2019) evaluation framework, derived from the Church of England’s ‘Vision for Education’ (2016) under reports were the most useful and objective metric of successful responses to challenges around social diversity. Consequently, the team began to liaise with other schools to do the following:

1) Diagnose effective responses to requirements for ‘Diversity’ work in extant SIAMS reports

2) Draw on the successful case studies identified in the research to provide models for successful community-building projects.

3) Connect schools with community groups in existing professional networks and facilitate dialogic planning and initiation of projects to respond to the needs identified in SIAMS reports.

This stage of the been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the limits on staging public events in primary schools in the autumn of 2020. Despite these challenges, from October to December of 2020, the team worked with the leadership and RE lead of St Michael’s Church of England School in Bartley Green, and conducted a close analysis of their previous SIAMS reports and of the demographics and history of the area.

First, this analysis reviewed the school’s articulated vision and its theological underpinnings in relation to the social context of the school, helping the school to identify the kinds of outstanding practice which it most needs to, and can most effectively, pursue.

Second, it systematically worked through the grading criteria in the current SIAMS evaluation schedule and explored ways to map the existing outstanding practice in the school onto these, helping to maximise how effectively the SIAMS inspector will be able to recognise the ways in which the school is meeting the aims articulated in its vision.

Finally, it reviewed the previous SIAMS inspection for suggested points of improvement and identified ways for the school to respond to these. This identified points of practical action for the SIAMS lead, the school leadership, and the wider school community to take in maximising the school’s effectiveness in living out its Christian mission.

The review of the vision with school leadership impacted how the leadership subsequently addressed religious education and the school ethos more broadly (R4). In partnership with stakeholders, we designed a new curriculum resource for Key Stage (KS) 1/2 by working with LEAF Creative Arts and St Michael’s, to introduce the Paper Trails Project in St Michael’s, which is a structured curriculum element designed to help children across KS1 and KS2 to connect with elders from the surrounding community, in care homes and supported living, as part of their RE curriculum, through a pen-pal system of writing letters and exchanging experiences and memories of different religious festivals. St Michael’s leadership reports that this has changed the school’s approach to the community and helped The SIAMS analysis and consequent genesis of the Paper Trails project have shaped the development of St Michael’s strategy for nurturing the school’s SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development), and has created impact in the development of the school’s thinking about Religious Education, their relationship with the community, and how to approach the SIAMs (R5&7).