Outstanding OFSTED result.

[OfstedOhDear]

My DC school has recently been awarded outstanding following their latest OFSTED inspection.
Obviously this is brilliant, the academy chain who took over the failing school that it was have really turned it around.

I have a slight problem with it though.

On inspection day, several amazing teachers were shipped in, replacing less inspirational ones.
Because the school is a chain, several school's worth of teachers are all employed under the same umbrella, so apparently this is fine, they can move teachers around different schools.

On inspection day, my DC came home saying that it had been a fantastic day as the new teachers were so enthusiastic and brilliant at getting information across, even the more difficult children who are usually quite disruptive were listening well.

In reality, the school has a high turnover of supply teachers, they have several teachers who are as inspiring as a tea towel, some who clearly don't want to be there (and I don't blame them, I wouldn't be a teacher for £millions.)

AIBU to think that the outstanding result has been gained by being dishonest?
If every school had a bank of maybe 200 teachers to handpick the best from, isn't it likely that most schools would do well?

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

Well, it doesn't sound right, but every inspection starts with a hypothesis based on the data available. So they can ship in teachers and change things around, if the data is public, has that been changed and if so, how? The school has to provide a self evaluation form and the inspectors scrutinise that as well. They look for evidence to prove what they have learned from the data.

[Scarydinosaurs]

It's sad. I feel sorry for those students. Short changed.

[Hassled]

They wouldn't have got Outstanding without evidence of Outstanding data - the teaching on the day alone wouldn't have been enough. I can see why you're uncomfortable about it, though - that's really dodgy.

[YoureAllABunchOfBastards]

The new framework is based on teaching over time, not on the day - the idea of being average most of the time then pulling off an outstanding lesson for the inspectors should be gone.

In my experience the fuckers know what they are going to give you before they turn up anyway.

[ChalkHearts]

Yes, the teaching on the day counts for nothing now.

Their GCSE results - relative to their intake - must have been exceptional for them to get an outstanding.

Plus their HT, SLT and governors must have been able to answer anything they were asked.

[lifesalongsong]

I've been told that a school can't be outstanding unless their results are outstanding and the inspectors no longer grade lessons on the day so while they may have shipped in teachers it shouldn't be the reason for the judgement

[JellyTotCat]

If teaching on the day makes no difference then i wonder why they went to the trouble of shipping in new teachers for the day. It seems dishonest as it doesn't give a true reflection of the school, regardless of whether that would affect the result

[Hepzibar]

Data. Outcomes. Data. Success rates. Data. Attendance. Data retention. Data progression. Data. Exam results. Data. Grades.

Classroom walk throughs on the 2 days of inspection would not account got an outstanding grade.

[Hepzibar]

If teaching on the day makes no difference then i wonder why they went to the trouble of shipping in new teachers for the day

Ofsted inspectors speak to students, they ask questions like "is this what normally happens?"Tthey check the learner journey. If a school had done this simply to try and get a better result, then they would have been found out immediately.

[JellyTotCat]

So why do you think they did it?

[witsender]

The report goes on lots more than just the teaching on the day, so they must be doing something right.

[OfstedOhDear]

That's good to hear, thank you.

The school has been turned around recently, it was a very poor school before.

It didn't really sit right having other, fantastic teachers coming in, but you would think that may jeopardise their results when they talked to the students, as it was very unusual to have them all in together. Wish they were there all the time!

[Leslieknope45]

I'm surprised they managed to pull the wool over the HMI's eyes!
What a farce.

[BertrandRussell]

How do you know about the brilliant teachers being shipped in?

You canMt get outstanding without outstanding results, so it won't have made much difference anyway.

[OfstedOhDear]

"How do you know about the brilliant teachers being shipped in?"

Because my DC told me. And other DC told their parents.

Three of his lessons were taught by teachers who usually teach at one of the other schools, he also named at least 6 other teachers (some of whom had taught at the school previously, but who had been moved around to help other schools improve) who were taking lessons that were usually taught by other teachers.

Good to know that it wouldn't have made a difference, but it seems strange that they would do it.

[Piratepete1]

It is unbelievably easier to fool ofsted believe me. When I was a teacher my 'outstanding' school did all sorts - swapped teachers around, wrote lesson plans for the weak teachers, took difficult and SEN pupils 'on a residential', even faked work in books. When I worked at one of the top universities I was once paid £500 to stay up all night and fabricate data for a report they wanted but we didn't have. They simply told Ofsted they couldn't locate it at the moment but would find it by the next day. Today, my local primary in an expensive village cruises along with some crap teachers but good results (largely due to the type of intake they have) and gets outstanding. My friend's school in the worst part of Birmingham with whole classes of children who can't speak English will always be only a 3 or 4 because they can't increase their results to an acceptable level. Never mind that those teachers really are the best and that they add so much to those children's lives. The whole thing is a complete farce.

[ChalkHearts]

'When you were a teacher' - ofsted inspections have changed massively and you can't do most of what you used to do now. Because the thing you are mainly judged on now is results. You can't get outstanding without outstanding results (at GCSEs or SATs)

But yes, better teachers could improve your behaviour score. Although it's a very high risk strategy because the teachers wouldn't even know the names of the pupils and if a pupil told an inspector it would not look good.

[x2boys]

Ds ,2 s has just got outstanding and tbf it is outstanding he goes to.a special School and every single member of staff go the extra mile I have never heard a bad word against it ds1, school however got good last yr and they are not good they are not inclusive of kids with special needs there a lot of favouritism and lots of parents are not happy .

[OfstedOhDear]

Chalk - because the good teachers are all under the same umbrella of schools, they do regularly come into school (once a month or so?) so will at least be familiar to children.

[GoblinLittleOwl]

This is one of the rare occasions when I would say, yes, write to Ofsted, Chairman of Governors, Head of the Academy consortium, and also to the local paper, who will be reporting on the findings of the Ofsted report.
Oh, and a copy to Nicky Morgan as well.

Do these outstanding (ie able to produce a lesson specially designed to impress Ofsted but not necessarily able to sustain teaching and learning) teachers visit the school on a regular basis?

[GloGirl]

I agree with Goblin.

[Highsteaks]

Yes, the focus of OFSTED inspections now.is much further away from observing teachers, as even they realised that you cannot possibly judge a teacher's entire career on a few minutes of watching them randomly.teach. instead there is much more focus on looking at books to see the type of work, feedback etc going on and of.course the biggest and most important thing is DATA!!!

A.school could have perfect teaching during an OFSTED inspection, but if this isnt reflected in the books and the data isnt up to scratch, it means nothing

[eyebrowse]

I would think about writing to ofsted, your MP and the local paper

[LikeASoulWithoutAMind]

I agree - it is all about the data now. All singing all dancing lessons count for absolute zilch if they're not backed up by strong progress data.

Oh and this is very true: In my experience the fuckers know what they are going to give you before they turn up anyway.

[BertrandRussell]

You can't get an outstanding unless attainment is outstanding.

Bussing in teachers for the day isn't going to have any impact at all on the attainment data.