No notice Ofsted inspections

[rollonthesummer]

Has anyone seen this on the news today? Is this just for 6 months as the article seemed to imply or is it for everyone, forevermore?

Is it for both state schools and academies?!

[CatherineofMumbles]

Have not seen it, but can only be a good thing, as it places schools under enormous stress when they are alerted, and they have to sit up all night marking books. Far better for an inspector to come in and see a snapshot of how it really is, and for teachers to deliver their normal lessons.

[noblegiraffe]

www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/ofsted-begins-series-of-no-notice-school-inspections-0

How will Ofsted know that the key players that they need to talk to will be in school? Heads, governors and so on. They can't just sit around in school all day waiting for Ofsted to call.

[TortoiseUpATreeAgain]

But if there were a real life emergency in the school there would have to be enough SMT/governors/whatever to handle it; there ought to be enough to handle an inspection.

[noblegiraffe]

You can't inspect the leadership of the school if the head isn't there!

[Explored]

I agree it's a very good thing. No more working all night to be "ready".

And I agree with tortoise, school should be managed so there are always SMT there sufficient to deal with any emergency (and an OFSTED inspection isn't one, not really)

[Explored]

Of course you can noble. The way to tell if a school (or any organisation) is well lead is if it can run itself without the head on the premises.

[noblegiraffe]

I disagree. The head is where the buck stops. You simply could not effectively inspect a school if the head was absent.

[Smartiepants79]

But I'm fairly sure that any inspector would wish to speak to the head! Or should if its any kind of inspection. My school is small, it doesn't have a SMT. It has one person and then some very dedicated teachers who back her up. Also both of our core subject co-ordinators work part time so you'd not get them either if you just dropped in. Total waste of time.
24 hrs notice is perfectly reasonable. You can't make any major changes in one day but you can make sure everybody who needs to will be there.

[Explored]

The buck still stops with the head when he's not there. The inspection is about how the school's run, you don't need to meet the head to investigate that.

[insancerre]

I think its a good idea
I work in early years and we don't get any notice
The inspector just rocks up and that's it. It doesn't matter if the manager is there or not.

[Explored]

Reality is that the inspector would speak to the head before the inspection's over though. If he can arrange to be available with 24 hours notice, they can s peak to him on day 2 or another day before submitting their report.

[TwoAndTwoEqualsChaos]

My Sister (head of a nursery) had one today! Haven't yet heard what she thinks about it ...

[bigTillyMint]

Ha, the HT at my DC's school would be going mad if Ofsted came when he wasn't there He thinks he IS the school.

Whilst our Head is really great, the inspectors wouldn't see anything different, more or less if she wasn't in.

[IsItFridayYetPlease]

Surely there are aspects of an inspection that the inspection team need to unpick can only be done via discussion with the head or at least the deputy. e.g. close tracking of whole school data to triangulate, pupil premium outcomes in sufficient detail, monitoring teachers across the whole school (who is UPS, what added value do they give the school?). In a primary school there is unlikely to be anyone with that depth of knowledge across the whole school to discuss these and other questions the inspectors may raise; teachers could discuss their own class, but not big issues.

[Ragwort]

I agree that it's a good idea, in Early Years that is exactly what happens. As a committee member I was one of the few people at our pre-school setting when Ofsted arrived - if it is a well run school then there is nothing to be worried about. And of course you can inspect the leadership of a school without the Head being there, as Explored says, if the school is well managed then you don't actually need the Head to be there.

I have seen schools run around like headless chickens when they are given notice that Ofsted is arriving in a couple of days - surely that is the sign of a poorly run school?

[CatherineofMumbles]

I have seen schools run around like headless chickens when they are given notice that Ofsted is arriving in a couple of days - surely that is the sign of a poorly run school?
Yes!

[CatherineofMumbles]

Precisely - if there are days the head is not there then obviously not all should go to pot on those days...
And in any case, head are not usually absent all day. or if they are, no reason why the specific Head questions cannot be asked the next day. Let the head sweat all night (if necessary ) not the staff!

[Pipbin]

I have seen schools run around like headless chickens when they are given notice that Ofsted is arriving in a couple of days - surely that is the sign of a poorly run school?
Yes!

However I think that even in the best run school with the most well prepared teachers, no one would get their 24 hours notice and just shrug and have a good night sleep.

[soapboxqueen]

For the most part i think it is an ok idea because it stops the worry. However, i do think that ofsted inspectors should only inspect the phase they taught in and should be serving or retired teachers. Also they should be more realistic about what they will see.

[Pipbin]

I think that being an OFSTED inspector should be like doing jury duty.
Every practicing teacher should be eligible to get called up. You get a letter in July, opt out if you have a very good reason, and the school gets funding to get a years cover.
That way you would get people who have actually done the job and know what it is like.

[Ragwort]

Pipbin - as I said earlier, I was involved in a pre-school, we had the Ofsted inspector arrive completely unannounced ............. we were pleased to welcome them in, show them round (and got a 'Good' rating ).

[CatherineofMumbles]

Pipbin - fab idea about the teacher jury service! I vote you for next Education Minister!

[Feenie]

Why do posters think that atm school get 'a couple of days'/24 hour notice now? It's just half a day - and has been for some time.

Agree with others - in a small primary the head would have to be present.

[rollonthesummer]

Yep-we had the phone call at about 2pm and they were in before 8am the next day. Enough time for the head to return from where we they are but not enough time to implement any massive changes.

I Wonder if their expectations would change for a no notice inspection?

[rollonthesummer]

That should have said-return from wherever they were!!