Q&A with Ofsted Chair, Baroness Sally Morgan - ANSWERS BACK

[RachelMumsnet]

We're joined this week by Ofsted Chair, Baroness Sally Morgan who has agreed to answer your questions on Ofsted and in particlar Ofsted's new Parent View online questionnaire.

You may have seen in the news - there is now a new easy way for you to tell Ofsted how you think your child's school is performing. Ofsted's new Parent View online questionnaire has been up and running for a couple of weeks now. The survey includes 12 questions, and asks parents to rank how well the school does in areas like managing behaviour, quality of teaching, tackling bullying and setting homework. The final question asks parents if they would recommend the school to another parent. The results will be available for anyone with an interest in a school to review and help parents as they make decisions about their children's education. Ofsted will also use the information to help make decisions about which schools to inspect and when.

If you haven't already seen it, have a look at the site at www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk and if you have a child at school take your opportunity to give your views. Send your questions to Ofsted Chair, Baroness Sally Morgan by midday on Monday 7th November and we'll be linking to the archived Q&A on Thursday 17th November. Please note, it won't be possible for Sally to answer questions about individual cases in individual schools.

This Q&A has been sponsored by Ofsted.

I would also like to know if Ofsted looks at the number of pupils leaving a school, including the number who choose to leave for another school/college at 16. Also why can you only take complaints if there is a child at the school? Many people will not complain while they still have a child at a school for fear things will get worse. No-one believes Ofsted will maintain confidentiality, even if you try its easy for a school to recognise a child.

I removed a child from a school because of bullying. There was a drop of around 20% in the numbers at the school over a couple of years as children were removed and parents chose not to send younger children there. An Ofsted inspection during the time the reduction was taking place found the school had little problem with bullying and dealt with it well! So many children were leaving the school's existence was at risk and Ofsted still couldn't recognise a problem.

My youngest child is in their last year at an "outstanding" school. In the early years the school is adequate but as your child progresses through the system its problems become more apparent. The school is "outstanding" in manipulating exam statistics so they look better than they are and in silencing criticism. Parents who mention problems are patronised, if you dare to complain you - and your child - are treated appallingly. Not all students are affected but it is the most vulnerable who suffer. Parents lack of support for the school becomes apparent in an increasing reluctance to support it financially.

if you ask me the whole system is screwed up. Schools, headteachers, LEAs , OFSTED etc.... They're all as bad as each other, and all the while it is the children who suffer.
One of my daughters has SEN. She is currently being badly failed by her school. I am battling endlessly to get what she deserves.Have been for 3 years now. All the LEA care about is saving money, all the head cares about is covering up the fact that school are cr*p. Everyone is now locked in a stupid battle of lies. Head teacher has just sent me another letter with yet another load of lies in it. I can't see OFSTED stepping in to do anything, yet I know for a fact that my DD is only 1 of many children at that school being failed badly. I have no other school I can send her to, so NO I dont have a choice.My own mental health is suffering due to the stress. But more importantly all the while my DD is missing out on the education she has a right to. So much for the system being "parent friendly" and "taking parents views into consideration" what a load of rubbish. Reminds why I Home Educated my children for 3 years, and makes me so sorry that circumstances mean that that is no longer an option for us. Education in this country is the pits and you dont need any on-line surveys to tell anyone that.

Given that an average parent will have never heard of EYFS wound't it be useful for parents to be aware of such simple targets and achievents their children have made? Some schools inform parents and let them have access to the information and others think it's their right to have policies withholding such information. Is the latter right?

Ninani this lack of transparency seems to be quite common and to be honest I don't understand it. Surely even if we parents use any knowledge to 'artificially boost' our children's performance in the school's eyes this only reflects well on them?

Getting NC levels out of our school is becoming more difficult rather than easier. The school don't even want to give us the exact timetable as 'things can change'. I'd like to have all the information possible. When the assessments were, which tests they used etc, you name it.

Incidentally are you schools on the site yet? Our local schools are not there yet.

I would like to ask why there is such emphasis on results and why this is seen as automatically going hand in hand with a school being graded outstanding.

When it came to my eldest starting school, we chose to go down the independent route rather than send him to the 'outstanding' catchment school with the very high SATs scores. Why? Because I had taught there and it was dull and uninspiring both for staff and children. Yes, results were high but VA wasn't. It was a very affluent area and most kids could read on entry to Reception so, of course, less to be done to get L5 in Y6. Also, most of Y6 was basically SATs practice at the expense of any other worthwhile learning that could have been taking place.
It makes me cross because by the time he went I was teaching in a school in a very deprived area with very low SATs results but where school was a welcoming and nurturing haven for many children. Our ofsted was satisfactory (I was graded outstanding so no axe to grind personally) mainly due to consistently poor SATs results. I no longer teach but I can say without hesitation that the school with the poor results was, by every yardstick bar results, better. If we had lived closer I wouldn't have hesitated to send my children there.

I know ofsted say they look at lots of other things but it seems to me very clear that a high percentage of L5s are always going to put a school ahead.

The Q&A is now closed. Thanks for sending in your questions and comments which we've now sent over to Ofsted and we'll be linking to their answers from this thread on Thursday 17th Nov.

Sally Morgan's answers are now back and you can see the archived Q&A here

Ofsted Q&A

My experience (as a parent and governor) is that Ofsted are hot as anything on things like health and safety but have no view on whether the teaching of basics, eg reading, is effective. They also can't do anything about teachers being constantly off sick or at training/conferences and they can't get rid of failing teachers. In my opinion, its a tick box system that can never work and has been hugely detrimental to education in the UK. I have given up and gone private.

Sorry if this is a repetition but I don't have time to read all the other questions (you are 100 x more popular than Andy Burnham)

Why do Ofsted reports include the number of children receiving free school meals? (I think divulging the ethnicity of pupils is questionable too.)

Could children who are not doing very well - my youngest is severely dyslexic which I knew when he was 7 but took until he was 12 for the school to act - not just drop subjects like french/drama/geography etc for a year or two just to concentrate on the three R's? He's 14 now, still dyslexic and still behind. I understand the whole 'rounded education' argument, but really how rounded can you be when you can barely read.

Second the comments about spot inspections. My dd worked in primary schools and they spend weeks prepping the kids for Ofsted visits and SEN kids and mis-behavers are hidden. It bears no relation to reality. I didn't realise that the kids who are likely to fail their SAT's don't even take them, so they don't bring the % mark down.