MNHQ here - AMA with Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver, 8th June, 7-9pm

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi there,

We’re delighted to announce an AMA with Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, on Monday evening (8th June) between 7 and 9pm.

Sir Martyn has worked in education since 1995 starting as a teacher and joined Outward Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) in 2009 where he became Principal of Outwood Grange Academy and then a National Leader of Education (NLE). In 2016, Sir Martyn was appointed Chief Executive and Accounting Officer for OGAT, a role he held until he started at Ofsted in January 2024.

Please post your questions below and join him on the thread on Monday evening to hear the answers.

As always, please remember our guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered, and please keep it civil.

Thanks,
MNHQ

@MartynOliverWhy do you think the number of childminders is dropping so rapidly?

@MartynOliver What did you learn from the roundtable? I have been a childminder for 25 years and the goalposts have never stopped moving! I can’t remember the last time anyone said anything positive about their Ofsted experience.

Has @MartynOliverstopped posting? I thought this was going on until 9pm?

Why weren't you lot covering classes in COVID?
How can you judge inclusion/SEND adjustments when CAMHS is not fit for purpose, backlogs on the pathways are years behind, Prus are full and EHCPs are like golddust or not fulfilled by LAs anyway?
And how do you justify inclusion as being the be all and end all, when some kids are being royally screwed over/ignored/collateral damage when teachers are trying in vain to support the mass of need there is now?
What is any government and Ofsted actually going to do about anxiety-based school avoidance leading to enforced home ed, no qualifications and becoming a statistic in the 18-25 unemployed bracket?

@magismarta Hi, no, I'm here, just answering a really long question which has many parts to it!

My local children’s services are rated inadequate by Ofsted- they’re making my life hell and bullying me through heavily biased and flawed reports despite evidence by my GP and the police of my injuries as the hands of my ex partner. They are favouring the father despite evidence of his abuse against me and my children. I have a cafcass hearing coming up and am petrified they’re going to be influenced by social services. What can I do? I’ve put in official complaint against the social worker involved and my MP is involved but I’m not getting anywhere. I feel like I’m being abused all over again.

@Hiddeninthetrees Lots of question @hiddeninthetrees! I will try and cover them all:

The DfE is responsible for what is in the national curriculum and schools are responsible for how they deliver that. Ofsted checks that schools are covering the curriculum – how they sequence learning so it builds knowledge, how it is taught, and the extent to which children learn what has been taught.

Attendance is not solely the responsibility of schools, I completely agree with you on that. However, schools can create the conditions, the culture, which supports good attendance and many do this very well, even in areas of high socio-economic challenge. Ofsted wants to find that best practice, celebrate it and highlight it for others to learn from.

Again, spot-on question! That’s why I say – raise standards for ALL children, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. What I mean by this is that if school leaders and teachers are really skilful at identifying barriers and meeting needs for the most vulnerable, then they will be skilled at doing this for everyone: I have never seen a school get it right for vulnerable children but get it wrong for everyone else.

I am really clear; the most inclusive schools are the calmest schools where children can attend free from disruption. I support headteachers who need to apply sanctions to maintain discipline. There is really clear guidance about how schools must manage behaviour.

@MartynOliverplease can you answer my question- I’m desperate.

@Garble Ofsted is the inspector of schools, the Department of Education sets what schools must and must not do (they are the regulator). The DfE mandates that schools must provide separate toilets for boys and girls aged 8 and over. Children must use facilities designated for their biological sex, and schools cannot allow access to single-sex toilets designated for the opposite biological sex. The recent judgement from the supreme court that was clear that women and girls have the right to the safety and dignity of women-only spaces. I welcome the clarity this provides and I know schools are working hard to make sure these rights are protected in school. We check safeguarding on every inspection. All children should use the toilets designated for their biological sex to protect privacy, safety, and dignity.

@Oncemorewithsome Most countries do have an inspectorate - I know that because we are often visited by them! I get that some people (not all!) in the profession would rather have a very different system – but I also know how important our work is for children and parents.

@PinkHairbrushClub I’m sorry to hear that. As I’ve said in previous answers, I believe we’ve made very significant changes for the better – of course that’s not to say we can’t keep on improving!

Our state-funded school inspection toolkit sets out how our inspectors are mindful of potential differences when inspecting small schools.
Some examples of how we do this include:
When inspectors evaluate achievement in small schools, they bear in mind that published data for small cohorts is likely to fluctuate considerably.
When inspectors evaluate leadership and governance in small schools, they recognise that leaders may have multiple responsibilities. The leadership team may be small, and may draw on expertise or leadership from people who are not in the school every day of the week.
When inspectors evaluate curriculum and teaching, particularly in small schools, they recognise that leaders may share curriculum expertise and resources across schools. They acknowledge that leaders may also adopt, adapt or construct their curriculum, and may organise it differently to meet the needs of pupils who are in a class with a mix of different ages.
Inspectors are aware that published outcomes for smaller cohorts might have data gaps or limitations in how comprehensive the overall picture is.
In small schools, there will be 2 inspectors on each day of the inspection, rather than 3 on the first day, to make it more manageable.

@Oncemorewithsome The DfE has just closed its consultation on SEND and we wait to hear their response to this. I am really pleased that the Government is taking action, the system really does need to improve. I have high hopes, and will do all I can, to make sure the new system is better.

Why are school based nurseries that are run by the school governing body subject to much less rigorous inspections than e.g. a PVI that is on a school site?
It's incredibly frustrating as an EY provider to have such a different standard applied to what are essentially the same provision.

@SENCoWithADHD This isn’t correct. We have just published a commentary on this which I have linked in an above answer. We absolutely do look at context. For example, we do look at outcomes for disadvantaged children in a school compared with the national averages for disadvantaged children – a more like-for-like comparison. But even then, exam results are not the only indicator we use, we consider how Year 3 pupils have built on their knowledge in Key Stage 1 or how Year 7 pupils in a secondary school continue to build knowledge following primary school. You can see, in the published reports, that schools in ‘challenging’ contexts can and do receive excellent Ofsted reports.

@JanFebAndOnwards I will take your question to the DfE and ask them about KCSIE for you. But our toolkit explains what we look for on inspection.

@Dozybear Please see my answer above to @SENCoWithADHD

Given how high stakes the inspections have become, with schools relying on an outstanding Ofsted to recruit amongst dwindling pupil populations and thus maintain maximum the funding of the school roll: Do you worry about schools attempting to cheat the inspections? For example, bribing children to behave well with promises of sweets and a “fun Friday” the following week, or telling them to put their right hands up if they know the answer in class and their left hand if they don’t (or raise a fist if you don’t know the answer, open hand if you do)? And similar tricks, I’m sure there are more.

What happens if you discover a school is attempting to cheat?

@ThatisGreat I have covered a lot of your questions in the above, so for speed, I will take Q4...

We did a lot of work with parents when designing the new report cards. We polled them on the names of grades and parents were involved in developing the layout
and functions of the report card, including the use of colours.

Exceptional (blue): Practice among the very best nationally and should be shared across the system
Strong Standard (dark green): Excellent, consistent work.
Expected Standard (green): A school doing everything expected of it in that area
Needs Attention (amber): An area which requires focus to reach the expected standard.
Urgent Improvement (red): Serious concerns that must be fixed quickly

We will keep on talking about this for years to come because some schools won’t have an inspection under this new way of working for another four years yet!

@givemushypeasachance We have all been shocked and saddened by the awful cases that have recently been in the press where children have come to harm. The vast majority of settings are safe places, where babies and children feel happy, secure and cared for.

As both the inspectorate and regulator of registered early years provision, we are turning the lens on ourselves, looking really closely at many areas of our work – from the point at which we receive a notification to the way we respond and the action we then take. We are asking ‘are we doing this in the best possible way?’ and making changes off the back of that. I spoke last week at an NDNA conference and set out some of the changes we are making – you can read my speech here.

@Member974245 The EY inspection toolkit is written for the inspection of registered early years provision. As all the children attending are in the early years, all gradings and reporting reflect entirely on provision for children in EY. When inspecting a school however, the EY provision is only part of the whole school. The early years evaluation area in a school also captures reception – which, in cases where there is no nursery in a school, can mean there are no children there under the age of 4.

@secon I’m really sorry to read this – you’re clearly going through a difficult time. I hope that your experience with CAFCASS is more positive.

@MartynOliver any reason why you left my question out and went to the person after me?

How will this answer be communicated to schools who are still waiting for the details?

@Cioccoholic Parent voice is a big part of inspections, so if you have any concerns about a school bribing children, then do tell us! That being said, it is right that schools find innovative ways to reward children, although I’m a big believer in knowledge being its own reward!

@Notamusmsymum We do consider context on inspection. We expect leaders to know what their challenges and barriers are and what they are doing to overcome them. That being said, you are quite right that schools are not an island, there’s a lovely saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. That is why we now look at local and regional factors as part of the ‘context’ of schools. We will do more and more on this in the years to come. Ofsted: explore an area