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Hinsley Hall,
62 Headingley Lane,
LEEDS, LS6 2BX
Tel: 0113 261 8034
Fax: 0113 261 8044
Office for Education and Schools
Diocese of Leeds
Constitution for the Diocesan Board for Inspections (S48)
1. SCHOOL INSPECTIONS
Inspections are to be set within the Bishop's responsibilities in Canon Law which state that:
'The formation and education in the Catholic Religion provided in any school [...] is subject to the authority of the Church.' (Canon 804)
‘The diocesan Bishop has the right to watch over and inspect the Catholic schools situated in his territory'. (Canon 806)
The Diocese has also assumed, under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005, the inspection, in all its schools, of the Catholic Life of the School and Religious Education.
It is the policy of the Trustees of the Diocese of Leeds
to ensure that the process of Section 48 Inspections (Education Act 2005) is of the highest quality and is aligned to diocesan policies, guidelines, strategies and practices.
In order to achieve this
a designated body, the Diocesan Board for Section 48 Inspections (DBI) will be appointed by the Bishop to ensure the implementation of the diocesan policy on Section 48 inspections.
2. THE DBI
The following specifications relate to the DBI as currently constituted and may be subject to change.
The Bishop, or his delegate, will appoint members of the DBI which includes members from the Vicariate for Evangelisation and Office for Education and Schools and any other person appointed at the Bishop's, or his delegate's, discretion.
The DBI is part of the Office for Education and Schools within the Vicariate for Evangelisation and will meet at least each term to review the effectiveness of the inspection process.
The DBI will be authorised to:
1. appoint named persons as Co-ordinators for Section 48 Inspections and delegate duties as appropriate
2. recruit and appoint Section 48 Inspectors
3. appoint Proof Readers of Section 48 Reports
4. organise initial training and in-service for Section 48 Inspectors
5. implement and oversee the identified procedure for Section 48 Inspections
6. review the diocesan policies relating to Section 48 Inspections and recommend amendments and alterations
7. receive final Section 48 Reports and forward a copy to the Bishop
8. ensure an analysis of Section 48 Reports, identifying needs relating to both individual schools and all diocesan schools
9. initiate quality assurance procedures to maintain rigour and high standards of inspection
10. determine the level of remuneration to the Section 48 Co-ordinators, Section 48 Inspectors and the Proof Readers
11. report annually to the Bishop
3. THE SECTION 48 CO-ORDINATORS
The DBI will appoint named persons as Co-ordinators for Section 48 Inspections and delegate duties as appropriate.
In addition to fulfilling the criteria for the Selection of S48 Inspectors (See section 6), the Section 48 Co-ordinators will:
1. be members of the DBI
2. in matters pertaining solely to Section 48 Inspections (S48): be the nominated persons in dealings with the National Board of RE Inspectors and Advisers (NBRIA) and the Regional Inspection Service Provider (RISP); and may be the nominated persons in dealings with the Catholic Education Service (CES)
3. represent the DBI at the termly meetings of the NBRIA S48 Co-ordinators group and present written reports from those meetings to the DBI
4. maintain effective communication with the S48 Co-ordinators in other dioceses as appropriate
5. maintain effective communication with the RISP (The Centre for British Teachers (CfBT))
6. maintain a diary spreadsheet of all S48 inspections indicating progress of the inspection process pertaining to individual schools and report on the progress of S48 inspections to the DBI
7. receive confidential notification of inspections from the CES (via NBRIA) and maintain that confidentiality
8. allocate inspectors to inspection time slots (concurrent with Ofsted in the first instance) and ask them to ‘reserve' inspection time
9. notify the school of the S48 Inspection only after the RISP has contacted the school and disclose the name of the S48 Inspector
10. notify the S48 Inspector of the school details
11. be available to schools (via diocesan e-mail) and inspectors (via diocesan e-mail & home ‘phone) to deal with any queries pertaining to S48 Inspections
12. assist the Office for Education and Schools and officers from the Diocesan Council for Education in preparing and running training events pertaining to S48 inspections
13. prepare the draft S48 Annual Report for submission to the DBI using NBRIA guidelines
14. liaise with the Vicariate Administrator with respect to the maintenance of the S48 area of the Diocese of Leeds Education website
4. SECTION 48 INSPECTORS
The persons recruited will be recognised and known as Section 48 Inspectors approved to conduct Section 48 Inspections in the Diocese of Leeds and, by agreement with the appropriate authority, in other dioceses.
The Inspector must:
1. meet the identified selection criteria which will be assessed through:
a. application form and supporting letter
b. 2 references (one of which must be from their Parish Priest)
c. interview / selection process
2. be appropriately trained to undertake Section 48 Inspections
3. be monitored and assessed by the DBI
4. receive appropriate developmental in-service training
5. operate strictly within the diocesan Framework and Schedule for Section 48 Inspections
6. undertake at least one Section 48 Inspection per year except in exceptional circumstances
5. OUTLINE PROCEDURE FOR INSPECTIONS
The inspector will:
2. be responsible to the Co-ordinators for Section 48 Inspections and ultimately to the DBI
3. follow, at all times, the Code of Conduct as detailed in the diocesan Framework and Schedule for Section 48 Inspections
4. work strictly within the inspection time frame detailed in the diocesan Framework and Schedule for Section 48 Inspections and summarised in the Section 48 inspection Flowchart
5. conduct at least one Section 48 inspection per year except in exceptional circumstances
6. in the case of Primary inspections conduct the inspection alone
7. in the case of Secondary inspections conduct the inspection with a colleague
8. reserve inspection time as requested by the S48 Co-ordinator
9. contact the school as requested by the S48 Co-ordinator
10. prepare a Pre-inspection Analysis (PIA) using the school's SEF48 and other documentation supplied by the school
11. prepare inspection trails and construct a draft timetable in discussion with the headteacher
12. conduct the inspection within the time allocated as detailed in the diocesan Framework and Schedule for Section 48 Inspections
13. gather sufficient evidence through discussion, observation and scrutiny in order to formulate judgements about each aspect detailed in the diocesan Framework and Schedule for Section 48 Inspections
14. maintain thorough and accurate documentation using the diocesan S48 Evidence Forms (EFs), Judgement Recording Form (JRF), Inspection Judgement Annex (IJA)
15. at the conclusion of the inspection present a formal oral feedback to the headteacher (and maybe the Chair of Governors and/or RE co-ordinator and/or RE head of department) indicating the judgements arrived at in each aspect detailed in the diocesan Framework and Schedule for Section 48 Inspections
16. prepare a draft Report to submit to the school for a factual check
17. send the final Report to the proof reader
18. calculate their personal fee and mileage according to the agreed rates and submit an invoice to the DBI
6. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR SECTION 48 INSPECTORS
In recruiting persons to undertake Section 48 Inspections, the following criteria for selection will be applied:
The candidate must be a practising Catholic who, as a teacher or recently retired teacher, is committed to the aims of Catholic education. They should have recent experience of school management in a Catholic school at a senior level and/or subject management in Religious Education.
The candidate must also:
• be supportive of and sympathetic to diocesan policies
• have demonstrable theological, scriptural and liturgical knowledge supported by a relevant qualification, formation or experience
• show evidence of an ability to appraise and evaluate the quality of school and classroom policies and practice in relation to the Catholic life of the school and Religious Education
• show evidence of recent in-service pertaining to the Catholic life of the school and/or Religious Education
• have a good knowledge of current thinking, documentation and schemes of work relating to Religious Education in the phase(s) they wish to inspect
• have a working understanding of school and/or subject self-evaluation in the phase(s) they wish to inspect
• relate well to others
• be an effective communicator
• show evidence of planning and organisational skills
• have demonstrable skills as an effective teacher
• have an ability to write and present reports to the appropriate person(s) or body
• be prepared to undertake initial training and participate in the required in-service
• submit a recent satisfactory CRB check
Members of the DBI:
| Name | Title |
| Fr John Wilson | Episcopal Vicar for Evangelisation |
| Deirdre Rowe | Principal Officer for Education |
| Christopher Devanny | Co-ordinator for Religious Education |
| James Hagerty (Chair) | Bishop's Nominee |
| Bridget Forbes | Primary Education Officer ( with specific responsibilty for S48) |
| Annette Dews | Secondary Education Officer ( with specific responsibilty for S48) |
| Marie Cabry | Primary Headteacher Representative |
| Paul Martin | Secondary Headteacher Representative |
| Elizabeth McGuire | Proof Reader Section 48 Reports |
The DBI seeks to work closely with other Dioceses to facilitate and encourage the sharing of best practice in Self-Evaluation and Inspection.