Important Information - December 2020 Update
 
On 3 December 2020, the CES announced that, in agreement with the DfE, the disapplication of the regulation requiring dioceses to inspect will not be lifted until the beginning of the Summer Term 2021. Further detail regarding the order of priority for Section 48 inspections which will apply once disapplication ends is yet to be determined and will be communicated to you as soon as we receive it.

OFSTED now report on whether or not a school has met its obligation to arrange a Section 48 Inspection (cf. School Inspection Handbook, Nov 2019, paragraph 37). When inspections resume, the Archdiocese of Birmingham will issue a formal Notice of Deferral to individual schools who would have, be it not for the pandemic, undergone a Section 48 inspection during the period of disapplication. OFSTED has said it will accept this notice as evidence to explain why a school may not have undergone its Section 48 Inspection within the usual statutory time frame (5 years for schools that are Good or Outstanding; 3 years for schools less than Good).

Within the Archdiocese of Birmingham, to support the inspection process, Archbishop Bernard requires each school and academy to undergo a Section 48 Monitoring Visit between inspections. Given the persistent nature of this pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding its longevity, the decision has been made to suspend all Section 48 Monitoring Visits for the remainder of the academic year 2020-21. We are acutely aware of our obligation of pastoral care towards our school leaders; we hope that this decision both alleviates any unnecessary anxiety that a Monitoring Visit may exaggerate in the current climate and frees up some time for school leaders to focus on the day-to-day operations within their schools, which are running under incredibly restrictive conditions.
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Further information regarding the future status of Section 48 Monitoring Visits will be communicated later in the year. Schools who were graded less than Good in their most recent Section 48 Inspection will continue to work closely with members of the BDES team, to ensure they receive support during this period of time.
Please be assured of our continued prayers for you and your school communities.
 
“God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power and love” (2Tim 1:7)
St Don Bosco, pray for us.

RE AND CATHOLIC LIFE

the relationship between s5 & s48 inspections

CES annual self evaluation of the governing body

National Statistics 2020

Inspection Documents 

Framework for the Inspection of Catholic Schools

S48 Framework pdf

Self Evaluation Forms

Primary SEF

Section 48 Training Presentation

Secondary SEF

Section 48 Inspectors

Krystyna Bickley
Victoria Brickley
Stephen Burns
Louise Bury
Kate Clarke 
Sister Susan Collins
Marie Conway
Bernadette Corbett
Louisa Craig
Tara Davies
Melanie Elliott
Debbie Enstone
Christine Finnegan
Rachel Girling
Stephen Godber
Veronica Gosling
Sarah Hatfield
Mark Hinton
Suzanne Horan

​Mary Johnson
Paul Madia
Chris Martin
Andrew Maund
Ben McArdle
Geraldine McCauley
Greg McClarey
Janet Mellor
Alexandra Moakes
Rebecca Nash
Karyn Oakley
Maureen O'Leary
Jean Richmond
Julie-Anne Tallon
Christine Walker
Francis Waugh
Rachel Waugh

Section 48 Inspectors' Portal