To think some schools are falling through the cracks

[Hotchocolate101]

Alot of schools who were last graded "Outstanding" at their last Ofstead inspection I feel are falling through the cracks. My DS school was like inspected 9 years ago. So much can change in that time! The leadership has changed and so have the teachers. So why is it being left so long? There are concerns for my DS school. I thought I'd have a quick scan of other schools in the area that received "Outstanding" at their last inspection too. A Lot of them have had huge gaps and are still waiting to be inspected. Just because it was outstanding almost 10 years ago does not mean it's going to be now. Like i said so much changes. So why is this happening? Why is the gap so big? Anyone know?

AIBU to be concerned about this?

One school near me hasn't been inspected since 2008. They are still a very good school but that's a LONG time. They still get excellent results but they have had two new heads since then as well. I understand why they didn't prioritise them but it's still a risky manoeuvre.

What makes you think ofsted inspections are helpful, accurate or constructive in any way?

Judgements have been shown to be almost entirely random

Inspections cause massive stress and time wasting, and almost always a dip in results

The hoops jumped through for ofsted are ridiculous

And a school that has had a long gap, will be blowing in the wind, expecting a call any day, obsessively following every twist and turn of current faddy ofsted guidance so they dont get caught out, and the stress on staff is enormous.

Once the inspection is out of the way, then staff and managers can relax for a few years, and make decisions based on common sense, rather than the latest crap spouted by ofsted.

So you are extremely unreasonable to think that a long gap between inspections means schools are not being controlled by ofsted, these schools are controlled MORE by ofsted.

And you are unreasonable to think an ofsted judgement means anything

The other issue is that schools due an ofsted are going to find it much harder to recruit, as staff dont want to be there when inspected.

Schools that have just been ofstedded may find they are more likely to get an applicant for a job advert

I think all schools should have a safeguarding inspection at least once every 3 - 5 years. It shouldn’t take a serious incident for the regulator to check those procedures are being followed properly.

However, pretty much everything else ofsted do is bollocks. Far too much depends on the mood and personal preferences of individual inspectors.

And by “all schools” I do mean independent schools too. They shouldn’t be trusted to inspect each other when it comes to safeguarding.

Our local primary was last inspected in 2013. Since then it's become an academy.

I get that Ofsted isn't the be all and end all, but I'd still like to know what they think.

Yea I guess it's more the safeguarding aspect. I think 3-5 years too. We had 2 incidents last year where they gave my Ds his allergen food and the heads attitude was shocking. When I said he could have made my DS seriously ill and luckily he was he told me I was being extreme! I did take it to the governors and it was shown their procedures were inadequate for allergen kids!

Totally agree

What difference do you think an inspection will make ? There is no money in the system to make any improvements. All an insepction will do is stress the staff, probably encourage some to leave and very likely result in recruitment issues.

Teachers are being constantly scruitinized by management, by their students and by parents. I honestly don't see why adding another layer makes any difference.