School Ofsted Inspection reform is absolute bollocks

[noblegiraffe]

So after the long campaign to get rid of the Outstanding grade post the suicide of Ruth Perry, they have merely renamed it 'Exceptional'.

Good is now Strong Standard
They've reinstated the old Satisfactory as Expected Standard.
Requires Improvement and Inadequate are now Needs Attention and Urgent Improvement

As currently, schools will not get a headline grade but will be assessed in 6 areas against these grades. Safeguarding will be separate and 'met' or 'not met'.

The areas are curriculum and teaching, attendance and behaviour, inclusion, achievement, personal development and wellbeing, and leadership and governance.

"Schools deemed to require significant improvement - judged as “urgent improvement” in any evaluation area or “not met” in safeguarding - will receive up to five extra inspections within 18 months.
Schools that are judged to require special measures - graded as “urgent improvement” in leadership and governance or “not met” in safeguarding, and given the lowest grade in at least one other evaluation area - will receive up to six inspections within 24 months."

Workload, workload, workload. This is going to be awful.

Inspections start in November.

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/ofsted-first-report-card-inspections-voluntary

There needs to be a clear way for parents of all different backgrounds to see how a school is performing though. If a school’s teaching is poor across the board, that absolutely can and should be called out (just as students’ work is graded).

Ofsted also don’t grade individual lessons and haven’t for many years.

How do you define poor teaching?
Grades?
Behaviour?
Pupil engagement? Teachers still have to do the basic boring bits so that pupils can do the interesting stuff.
Progress 8, where subjects are weighted differently and given different priorities within the school?
SEN grades, where pupils with SEND are put in to subjects that are not suitable for the pupil?

All of the above, which is why the new Ofsted reports will have more categories than before.

Makes you wonder when teachers are going to find the time to actually teach, given the amount of paperwork that is increasingly being put on them.

Makes you wonder when teachers are going to find the time to actually teach, given the amount of paperwork that is increasingly being put on them.

I think this 'reform' will speed up the exodus of good teachers leaving even more.

Ofsted and the government are very clear that the inspection process should be about judging schools as they normally operate.

There should be no additional paperwork for staff as a result of Ofsted inspections.

Hahahahahahahahahaha….

Even now SLT will be labelling up their evidence folders for each graded area.

There should be no additional paperwork for staff as a result of Ofsted inspections.

I think that is an incredibly naive thing to think. I have worked in a lot of schools and there is always additional paperwork for Ofsted.

Bless your sweet naive heart.
(editing because autocorrect is weird)

If you believe that the new framework won't create additional paperwork, you're completely deluded.
In my school they're already planning it.

Interesting that this poster who is so in favour of Ofsted doesn't appear to have any experience of it or what it does to schools.

What paperwork are they planning? Is it adapting some of the old stuff you've done for Ofsted as well or just new stuff? Just out if interest, if you're okay with it. I think there's going to be more changes to come though that depends on school type, I think the curriculum and assessment review will have a mix of more evolutionary changes but some big changes in terms of breath and the amount of content as well, that will have a big impact as well. Will take time for full implementation but its difficult to balance for curriculum expectations of Ofsted.

I've no idea. I'm sure they'll be using the time they're not supporting their staff to come up with some absolute bullshit.

They seem determined to break us all before half term so it might well be a moot point anyway!

There's certainly talk of "mocksteds".

You know why they don't grade lessons anymore, right?

Why?

Because lesson observation grades were totally unreliable. They were more likely to grade how charismatic the teacher was.

Tbf mocksteds happen quite a bit, particularly in some MATs I know, it's almost easier with a MAT. You can get staff from another or a mix of another schools in the trust to do it. I don't mean having these vists as like learning/development or coming to see how the department does x (that's obviously different). In some part useful it's actually supportive and you can do good learning from seeing another departments ideas etc, how they work in practice but all depends on the implementation.

How do you know that SLT are planning thse new initatives then? Do you have a good Oftsed rating? So they want to push for a string standard or exceptional I'm guessing, in some ways it depends as to whether the admin is necessary bad or not. The aim is key, perhaps doing an audit or review of whether personal development is lacking is not a bad thing, but done in collaboration of students, teachers and parents, to develop strategies on the key values you want the school to have, how will you make sure kids develop good soft skills before x and other things. It's more the implementation, the aim and whether the paperwork will lead to somewhere, or help in x way for x aim if that happens then it doesn't necessarily all become bad, but that's up to SLTs.

That's because the Local Authority won't waste their time putting through a penalty charge application for them, as all they need to say is 'I don't live there anymore, haven't got a clue what happens in the mornings' and it'll be dismissed. Mind you, they seem to have a service level agreement that entails rejecting 99.8% of all applications and then refusing to proceed with the remaining .2% on such grounds as 'but have you actually told them that they need to attend school? Yes, you have submitted 300 pages of proof including all of the letters, emails, calls, invitations to meetings, social services referral, offers of SEND referral, alternative provision, part time timetable, graduated return, an Uber Deluxe every morning and afternoon, an individual tutor, home tuition and gifts, but have you got proof of them understanding that the child needs an education? Can you really prove it?'.

@TheLivelyViper I know because I was there when they were discussing it. What we actually need is the back up for the policies and processes we have, rather than more hoops to jump through.

If I follow the emergency alert process, and no one comes for twenty minutes whilst Bob is causing chaos, I don't think a new set of hoops is going to fix it. They need to get out of their offices instead.

As for 'this won't create extra workload' .... teachers are already working on it. Look at this spreadsheet posted on twitter that breaks down the areas, with a column for strategy or location which meets that area and another column for evidence sources. What do you think will happen when there is an area that is blank? Ok, let's just leave that? Even creating and completing that worksheet is a huge amount of work.

x.com/englishspecial/status/1966430702683009102?s=61&t=U9XrcF693-JpMxeIueYG7g

Ah, on closer inspection that seems to be a spreadsheet preparing for Ofsted inspecting teacher training. Similar sort of thing though...

The thing that really annoys me is that the work the teachers are having to do for the inspection isn't work that they would be doing anyway for the good of the kids.

It would be much better if the inspector wanted to see stuff that they would have to do if they were working to help the kids along.

Asking them to do this extra stuff just splits their focus.

in some ways it depends as to whether the admin is necessary bad or not.

What do you mean by admin being 'necessary bad' here? Admin staff in the office? Paperwork?