Frequency of Ofsted inspections...?

[Wigeon]

Anyone know about usual frequency of Ofsted inspections? DD’s primary school was rated “good” 4 years ago, and just had a one day inspection where they were rated “good” again. However, the head has written to parents saying the inspector has said they will get a full 2 day inspection “within 2 years” because they are “an improving school”. The SATS results last year don’t compare well to other local schools, even one with a more deprived cohort.

Is it usual practice to get a full inspection to this timetable? Or might it be because the inspectors are concerned about the SATS results?

I would suggest that Ofsted are keeping an eye on the the progress the children make. Progress is key, not just results (attainment). If the school is improving, as the Head says, and there is evidence that the current year groups are making good progress, then the Head is correct. Ofsted will have looked at the progress of all year groups when the visited and the quality of teaching and SLT’s ability to drive improvements. I would not expect Ofsted to come back in 2 years if progress goes in the right direction for the vast majority of children and the school holds its own when compared to other benchmark schools. These are not just neighbouring schools. Ofsted have more sophisticated comparison tools than this.

If Ofsted have found there is a lot of work still to be done and progress is patchy, they may well come back. To some extent it depends on how busy Ofsted are. Are other schools requiring their attention more than yours?

There can easily be 5 years between inspections for Good schools. However if they find a very good reason to return earlier, they will prioritise a visit. So hopefully good progress by the children will keep Ofsted at bay! The Report will tell you what further improvement is needed.

The situation re short inspections has just been changed. Quoting off the Ofsted website.
"When inspectors have reason to believe that a school may be improving towards an outstanding judgement, Ofsted will publish a letter confirming that the school is still good and setting out its strengths and priorities for further improvement. A section 5 inspection will then take place within 1 to 2 years, giving the school time to consolidate its strong practice. However, requests from schools for early inspections will be considered. The majority of short inspections will confirm that the school remains good and, as now, Ofsted will return to carry out another short inspection after approximately 3 years."
So yes this could easily be the case at your school. However the same principle will apply if the school is judged to be moving towards "requires improvement" from good, again with an inspection within 1 to 2 years.
I would go onto the Ofsted site and find the letter that will have been written to the school (as a school short inspection report) and see what that says. It should be obvious from the language used whether the school is on the up or the opposite and potentially allay your fears about the school.

Progress is “average”, “below average” or “well below average” in all the areas on the school results gov.uk website. Overall reading is average, maths and writing are below average. None of the other results (disadvantaged pupils, EAL etc etc) is above average, some are below or well below. So not looking great.

In terms of other local schools, I take the point that geographical proximity doesn’t necessarily mean other schools are comparable, although this school is in a very densely populated town, with several other primaries within even a mile radius, and the cohorts surely can’t be completely different in every single one? The school with the definitely dodgy intake is getting scores which are average, above average or well above average...

The inspection was only very recently, so the actual report (or letter, given it’s a short inspection?) isn’t out yet but will definitely be very interested to see what that says.

If the school is still Good then the Inspectors must have been satisfied that the school’s improvement plan is effective. The report will be interesting. I wonder if it’s true that the school is improving as the Head says? If so, how much worse was it in between inspections?

Schools are placed with other similar schools from all over the country for benchmarking. Sometimes they can feel a bit random but lots of similarities are considered.

Cohorts can vary a lot from year to year in a school. Without knowing FSM, PP and other data it is difficult to compare schools even if they seem similar. Parental occupations and education, effective nursery provision, parental expectations, culture plus good parenting can all make a big difference even if the neighbourhood looks similar.

This does not sound like a school that it heading towards outstanding based on the gov.uk website indicators.
It will definitely be worth looking at the letter. If the head teacher is saying in writing we are improving school and the letter says otherwise then they are going to find themselves with quite a bit of explaining to do.

I would very much hope she wouldn’t have put that they are improving if they are not...She gives every impression of being a dedicated and good leader. She is certainly very personable and the children respect her. But the current results don’t appear promising.

She’s in the playground most afternoons, ostensibly so parents can easily speak to her, so I am wondering how to raise the results with her. The recent inspection is quite a good hook? But struggling with how to put it, since it’s basically saying to someone: “so, tell me why it appears that you aren’t doing your job and potentially failing my child?”...

Any ideas?!

A play maybe exactly the same between two different inspections and still get different grading and the goal posts are constantly moving.

As a parent I would ignore the school as a whole and concentrate on the progress in your child. Speak to the class teacher about your child’s progress and ask them what you can be doing at home to support your child.

The results themselves are not the full picture. This may have been a very weak cohort and they may have made good progress to get to this position. Some children may have just fallen under 100 by a mark or two. They arfe not failing and may have made good progress. Until you see the Ofsted letter you do not know what the situation is. I would hold off before you say anything tothe Head at all. You will not get much from hijacking her in the playground on a very detailed and nuanced topic. Also ask the school for a brief overview of their improvement plan. This is a plan agreed by the governors and can be made available to parents, legally, because it is not confidential. At least you will then know what they are doing.

Wait for the letter. See what it says. This is the official line, whatever the Head says. Often the Head will send out a letter from school along with the letter from Ofsted. Take that letter as the school view on it all. See what approach the Head takes - defensive? Acknowledging suggestions for improvement and having a plan to achieve them/saying they are working on it and will get back to you about it?

After you've seen this info you can decide if you need more or want clarification. If so, email in being clear what you would like to know and ask to arrange for a chat. You can ask specific and precise questions but still keep a friendly and non-critical tone in the email. This would be better than approaching the Head in the playground. She will need a bit of time to gather info to answer your questions, so it's only right to allow her that - and giving that will mean you should get more useful info too.

It does sound like it's heading down, not up, but until you have more info, it's hard to be certain. If this is the case, it's all about the approach the school take to it and any support available to them. I would be interested to know how they are doing re progress with children of my own child's ability band - so that might be a good question to ask. If you don't know if your child is low, middle or high achieving, you can ask and also what the progress scores look like for that category of children.

I definitely wouldn’t march up to her in the playground and demand an explanation about the results! I was thinking of saying I was wondering whether she has any plans to communicate to parents about the SATS results recently published, or to say that I’d seen them and wondered if I could arrange a chat at a convenient time.

The letter from the school straight after the Ofsted visit said that the result (ie “good”) was “the very best news” and the recent regular newsletter says they are “thrilled” with the result, which makes me wonder if they were expecting to be downgraded and so getting “good” was a massive relief. Because surely “exceeded” would be the very best news. Although I am not sure they can give an exceeded on the basis of a short one day anyway?

I’ll wait for the Ofsted letter as everyone suggests, and promise I won’t be going guns blazing whatever it says!