Labour to scrap Ofsted

[noblegiraffe]

Labour have announced that they want to scrap Ofsted inspections, get rid of school gradings and replace it with a system of ‘health checks’ done by local authorities, with inspectors only being sent in if problems are found.

www.bbc.com/news/education-49785130

Given that calls for years to scrap the extremely damaging ‘outstanding’ grade have been persistently ignored because parents like it, what will parents think about all grades going?

Do we trust standards will be maintained under a much lighter system of inspections?

I think given that early feedback from schools on the new framework has been positive, it would be a total throwing the baby out with the bathwater moment.

I think given that early feedback from schools on the new framework has been positive

Only a handful of schools have been inspected and no report have been published. So there is no feedback.

Scrapping Ofsted is a great idea.
I`ve thought it for years , how can you possibly get an accurate grading when the schools etc have months to prepare for the inspection.
Total waste of time and money that could be spent elsewhere.
If anything Ofsted should call out of the blue and see the real teaching etc.

Ofsted should call out of the blue

You get a phonecall the lunchtime of the day before they arrive, to make sure key figures are available for meetings first thing.

But the anecdotal reports from those schools are positive - what remains to be seen is whether they can roll it out larger scale - but let's hope so.

Brilliant idea.

@KUGA you are misinformed - schools get a day or half a day's notice.

Hospitals however, get loads of notice when the CQC are coming!

I think there is a role for an independent inspectorate but it feels like there is too much fear and less support. I’m quite surprised to read of one day inspections. In a large school that is clearly not going to touch the surface. My child’s (small) nursery recently had a full day inspection and the manager said it was really helpful as it was structured almost like a peer review and she had someone who had early years experience. But, She’d said in previous inspections, it wasn’t unusual to have someone with a background in secondary level and she said sometimes inspectors just didn’t get the needs of small children.

But the anecdotal reports from those schools are positive - what remains to be seen is whether they can roll it out larger scale - but let's hope so.

How many have you personally spoken to? It is only 2 weeks into inspection.

As a teacher, Ofsted inspections are far less stressful than they used to be when they observed lessons then graded you personally.

That was a pile of shite.

@KUGA you are misinformed - schools get a day or half a day's notice

Allegedly however a lot of people know:
Diocese
Other inspectors (including current heads and CEOs of MATs)

@endoftheworlds the closest I've ever heard to that is when HTs share a rumour that ofsted are "doing the area" that year. In all the schools I've worked in over nearly 20 years, including church schools, we never knew.

Too much is based on the quirk of an individual inspector -yep.

I would love to see a universal grade of 'fit for purpose'; "Primary School? Doing what it says on the tin? Great, we pronounce you 'Fit for Purpose', you're good to go!"

Agree with Puffle that schools in 'challenging' areas of high deprivation work so hard, and are rarely awarded a better grade than 'good'.

After working in schools, and lets face it, schools are full of those with vulnerabilities. I think that Ofsted is a load of shite.

Of course, a few of the schools didn't take advantage of having notice just before the weekend for the following week.

Nor did teachers take advantage of trying to change their laid back ways.

Planning didn't suddenly appear for the term where at times this has been done during registration.

Staff fed what to say by slt.

I'm not saying that schools shouldn't be inspected. Just the Ofsted mode is broke. It gives parents a jaded view of what is actually happening. One thing I would love to see is no warning inspections. That's the only way you can get a good insight.

When I chose schools, I considered other parents experiences. I also had a look at job applications for the school and if they were undersubscribed. Starting from there gives you a better indication. Can also be a good laugh at reading the shiny inspectors version
Also applied the same logic when applying for positions.

@endoftheworlds the closest I've ever heard to that is when HTs share a rumour that ofsted are "doing the area" that year. In all the schools I've worked in over nearly 20 years, including church schools, we never knew.

I have been told by a Diocese that a certain school is going to be inspected in XX window.

I think it is a good idea but I would rather league tables went too/instead of.

schools get a day or half a day's notice

And sometimes the head announces a few months before, in a staff meeting that we will be getting Ofsted. And start preparing.

Of course, a few of the schools didn't take advantage of having notice just before the weekend for the following week.

Inspections no longer happen on Monday to avoid this. You get a phone call lunch time ish the day before.

And sometimes the head announces a few months before, in a staff meeting that we will be getting Ofsted.

Every decent head should be expecting the call any time (unless outstanding!). Schools in special measures will know the rough time frame an inspection is due. As with requires improvement schools, they can probably predict the term ofsted will come. The point of them is that they shouldn't require any extra work. Yes of course you dot the Is and polish the Ts but it should be operation normal.

Scotland has never had Pfsted in fact I think it's just England that has it ? Having school inspectors and no Ofsted would take a bit of getting used too but it might take pressure off a bit

Independent school inspectors

KUGA What are you talking about?! A school gets contacted the day before. Unless you are 'outstanding', you do have an idea which year you are likely to be inspected next. Then you are on high alert for the duration until the inspection happens. Prior to our last inspection, I cleared my diary of any significant social events and trips away for approximately 6 months, so I could be sure to be 100% available to younger colleagues, some of whom were worried about their first inspection experience, in the run up to the inspection. Sounds ridiculous? While I don't exactly enjoy an inspection, some of the colleagues at my seemingly perpetually 'Good' school were really anxious about it.

But, in schools, much valuable time, resources and head space is spent on Ofsted prep and compliance, and transforming the inspection system to something more constructive would almost certainly lead to more stimulating learning environments.

Agree with the above, and would add that parents will go by the word-of-mouth reputation of a school anyway.

The trend I really hate right now that has been driven by ofsted's ridiculous focus on accountability is the bloody BOOK LOOK, which has become a tyrannical tool of torture for teachers.

Exercise books used to be a tool for learning. You'd use them when required for a specific activity. Now they're being used as a scrutinised record that stuff happens in classrooms (verbal feedback stamps, anyone?!). Photos, worksheets and long handwritten feedback conversations to PROVE you talk to students, do creative activities and group work, with further notes recorded in different coloured pens, are driving teachers into the ground.

Inspectors and SLT used to be able to connect the dots between a teacher's planning, marking and students' work. No more. Exercise books are now diaries of competence.

Ofsted have eroded all trust in teachers as professionals by pushing practices like this which take away from the actual activities themselves. The system is fundamentally flawed.

Ofsted hasn't been the issue for years, ime. Inspectors have usually been more than reasonable in their judgements of classrooms and schools as a whole, especially since grading individual lessons has become a thing of the past.

The far bigger problem is school leaders' interpretations of what Ofsted want.

Ofsted haven't looked for in-depth marking in years, yet so many schools still insist this is done.

Ofsted don't require 5 differently-coloured sheets in books to demonstrate assessment, responses, numeracy, literacy and skills-based work, yet some school leaders insist on this to make what people do in the classroom more obvious.

Ofsted don't care about teaching style, as long as the children progress. They don't give a toss about lesson plans (and under the new framework would rightly question this under the workload aspect), but too many school leaders still insist that planning is evidenced in detail. Ours still require lesson plans for observations, even though they are obsolete.

Ofsted haven't inspected whole lessons in years and often drop in for only 10mins or so to see what is going on. Yet most observations by school leaders are still 30-60min.

Ofsted do care that we know our pupils well enough to take their needs into account, which is made difficult by classes of 30+ in secondary, where you may only see pupils once a week.

My last observation under Ofsted was really quite relaxing - the whole class were doing an assessment-based task an their interesting homework projects were on display. No issues. And still, I went against what leaders wanted us to do. I got off a lot better than those who made up all-singing-and-dancing lessons and whose pupils responded truthfully to the question of whether this was an example of an everyday lesson.

Make leaders actually read what Ofsted really want.