to wonder how the hell this school got a good ofsted?

[doggolove]

I worked at a local school for a few years in a self employed capacity and left as the culture was just toxic and stressful. High staff turnover. Dangerous environment to work in. Staff talking to students like they were animals. Poor safeguarding. Poor communication. Many complaints from many parents. The list goes on.
I've just seen that they've just received a good ofsted report. The description of the school and staff is full of praise.
I did highlight concerns I had, mainly over safeguarding. Luckily for me I work flexibly and am in demand, on a self employed basis, so was able to move on quickly when I realised I didn't want to work there anymore.
But how in the hell did they get a good ofsted? Baffling.

I imagine their paperwork was tiptop. Ofsted wouldn't see the other stuff.

I guess. I know I've reconsidered schools
in the past because of Ofsted and am now wondering if their Ofsted was a joke too.

Which is why, actually visiting and getting a feel for a school is essential I think.

yes, it's certainly given me food for thought as to the merits and abilities of an ofsted visit!

I was on the SLT in a primary school with a headteacher who was a class A b*tch. I left after 2 years (she was deputy when I started there, then head got seconded and never came back). A few months later they had ofsted, got rated Outstanding and the report waxed lyrical about her leadership. Since then I've held no faith in ofsted ratings. I later worked in a school that was in Special Measures and loved it, especially working with the rest of the leadership team.

I’m not a teacher or a parent so my experience of schools is from a long time ago but I have found from some schools I was at and have heard about that a school can change quite rapidly from things like a change of a few key staff members.

In fact, I was at three schools between 11 and 16 and two of these schools had a somewhat “tough” reputation (long before Ofsted) but I found the atmosphere and attitude of the staff vastly better than those at the “nice”, recently gone comprehensive but ex-girls high school.

Someone in the school knows how to do great paperwork. Whenever I see Ofsted ratings, that is my first thought!

The worst school I ever work at was one that Ofsted deemed to be outstanding. It was run likely a military boot camp.

The school that I withdrew my daughter from is tipped to get Outstanding in the recent inspection despite many instances of failing to safeguard pupils from peer on peer abuse. I think the HT manages to get around Ofsted by NOT following safeguarding protocols and burying complaints. For instance, she never liked to document anything and liked to deal with things verbally so she cannot be held accountable (presumably). I amazed at how corrupt and inept the system is

Because you’re not a teacher and inspector or a current employee at the school?

"Staff talking to students like they were animals."
Apart from that snippet, it sounds like the school I struggled in during my rather short attempt at teaching.
In that school, it was the pupils talking to the staff like they were animals.

to be fair @VeryOldMan it was both ways: students to teachers and teachers back to students (talking to each other in very derogatory way)

Spot visits, classroom observations and ideally mystery visitors so schools can't pretend to be good.

How long ago did you leave? A school in trouble, with a new head for example, can turn things around very quickly. Either that or yes unfortunately sometimes ofsted are impressed by paperwork alone and the rest can be faked for a few days.

Maybe the school has got it's act together since you left?

The last Ofsted I was involved in (since Ruth Perry's death) was actually a pleasure. It helped that we were absolutely ready, but they didn't spend much time looking at paperwork (as PP suggests) but did, I felt, really get beneath the workings and culture of the school.

There are definitely things schools need in place to get good ofsted reports, but now, for the first time, it seemed like they were actually important things for the benefit of students and inspectors really did see the school.

From my experience the Staff comments were largely reactions to needling instigated by the pupils.
A couple of years after I bailed out of teaching there was the horrendous and tragic incident at Mansfield where a science teacher, after a period of sick leave because of stress, was being deliberately wound up by a class deliberately trying to get him to crack.
He cracked ok. He picked up a lab stand and struck the ringleader of the tormenting with it several times causing serious head injuries.

OFSTED reports aren't worth the paper they are written on. You know OFSTED inspectors are strangers to the truth. I wouldn't trust a word they say.

Ofsted reports are based on a few days in a school where everyone is on their best behaviour.

Paperwork is used as the evidence base for most areas of judgement.

I've been a teacher for fifteen years. Every school I've worked in has had toxic management teams full of incompetent bullies who made the lives of the teaching staff hell. And yet all of these schools had Outstanding Ofsteds with a couple of the headteachers - both horrendous bullies - described as 'visionary' and 'exemplary' etc.

Of course there is the opportunity for staff to 'have their say' during an inspection, and there is a promise from Ofsted that what they say will be 'anonymous' but most of us who have served under a bullying management team will know and understand the fear of speaking up and the consequences if anyone does. The Head will find out who spoke out and they will be punished. So no one says anything. In one of the schools I worked in, the box for teacher feedback (it was handwritten back then) was placed in the office of the Head's PA. Some of my colleagues and I were brave enough to call the Head a bully and to describe the toxic work environment. We were shocked when the Ofsted report made no mention of this. Until we spoke to the Head's PA, who told us that she had been instructed to shred all of the forms on receipt. Ofsted never saw any of them. And they weren't interested in why none of the staff had apparently filled in any feedback forms.

Ofsted don't look at things like staff retention and turnover. They aren't interested in what schools are like as employers. That is the biggest flaw of the system. No school will be able to provide a truly 'outstanding' education (whatever that means) if their teaching staff are exhausted, overworked, bullied and unsupported. It used to amaze me that Ofsted don't seem to have any interest in staff wellbeing and how easily they are hoodwinked by useless SLT teams - but then I remembered the types of people who become Ofsted inspectors, and it all made sense.

In short, I always encourage parents to pay no heed to an Ofsted inspection report. In fact, the worse it is, probably the better the school, to be honest.

Like most accreditations, Ofsted are also renowned for talking and writing absolute bollocks.

Agree with everyone else when it comes to ofsted and cqc it's just paperwork that's good

@EnidSpyton I couldn't agree more on ofsted doing more to categorically assure parents and staff that feedback is 100 anonymously collected.

We were able to choose students who could talk to ofsted and these students were primed before hand as well.
Staff were also heavily primed.

Many staff wrote stuff that was never mentioned however one student, just one mentioned something re safeguarding and that was picked up and rolled out.

People really need to get their heads round this. Two schools in the same MAT both Ofsteded weeks apart. The exact same planning. Outstanding in one, criticised in the other. Literally exactly the same. It's far too subjective. It's not all about paperwork as people say; it's about which inspectors you get.

Many parents companied about communication with primary it was dire and constant source of friction with parent body - just letting them know things were on or coming up and kids need x or they want family at y - though overall the school was very good.

Report made a point to praised the communication with parents 🙄