Is Ofsted a stitch-up?

[frogs]

My children's school has just had ofsted in.

Over this week, all normal activity has been suspended, as far as I can tell, in favour of an elaborate charade designed to show the school in the best possible light.

No homework has been set or marked, no reading books changed, music club cancelled apart from for a few select kids and an unnecessary church service today for a feast day which wouldn't normally merit a whole-school church outing. There have been extra performances and assemblies with carefully-selected pupils, and little groups of mainly high-ability children, with a few strategically-placed SN kids have been taken out for one-off sessions to design webpages and other activities which they would never normally get to do.

My oldest child is in a class where the teacher normally never stops shouting -- she reports that no voices have been raised all week. The headteacher has apparently gone over every teacher's lesson plans for the whole week with a nitcomb, to ensure that nothing can go wrong, and the children have been repeatedly told that Ofsted are there to inspect them rather than the school, in order to ensure good behaviour.

Is this normal practice in schools? And can Ofsted see behind this kind of show? There are many things we like about the school, but quite a few real concerns, and am really shocked to see what a performance the school have put on to cover up the daily reality.

what a very good idea hula!..
I wonder why they daren't do that one?!!

I do think as a teacher the worst think about OFSTED and inspections is the run up before they arrive. Half the school go mad planning and preparing activities and events that just wouldn't happen normally. And the stress levels go through the roof, as teachers are asked to prepare massive lesson plans in such minute detail - which is all so unnecessary.

In which case hula ofsted inspectors aren't seeing the reality are they?

I think it must be down to managers (heads and governors) who aren't confident with their system to pile the pressure on teachers just for Ofsted inspection.

But(qualify this) I am speaking only as a concerned parent (not overworked teacher).

Let teachers teach I say!!!

I help to run an out of school educational activity for children and we are inspected on the basisi that they turn up half an hour before school starts with no notice.

They observe lessons and chat with the staff. OFSTED should do the same.

The other reason for the notice given is the massive amount of paperwork that OFSEAD expect when they visit. All of the stats etc have to be up to the minute and that simply isn't possible to expect on a day to day basis. I would much perfer a short notice inspection, but the authorities would have to have a realistic expection on the paperwork. After all our primary job is to teach, not number crunch. Of course, if the government would stick to the work life ballace that they agreed to, and funded more clerical staff this wouldn't be a problem, but that is a different thread.

The notice time has reduced already from what I remmeber witht he first one I went through. Down to about 3-4 weeks now I think. But they definetly need to reduce the amount of paperwork they look at. They should eb happy with looking in teacher files and HoD files in offices/classrooms. They should be up to date and have the relevant info anyway. Why can';t they just come and see what a school is really like, rather than looking at pieces of paper????

Most schools that I have taught in, prepare for an inspection weeks in advance. Some schools do completely transform themselves for an inspection and a weak school can come out well in an inspection because they have prepared for it. I believe that they should inspect schools at short notice, then they would get the real impression of a school.

well frogs, I am getting the distinct impression that the answer to your q is a distinct YES!

In which case, we Parents should be made more aware of the stich up!

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with some of the posts raised, inspectors do not always see past the show. Yes they expect it, but they do not always see past it. In my experience I have seen truly awful teachers (in terms of they always wing it and are terribly unreliable, although charismatic) recieve a grade 1 (back in the days) because they had their HoDs write their lesson plans, sort out the resources etc, all they had to do was to turn up and be charismatic! Equally, I've seen the safe but usually good teachers get very ordinary marks because they have not performed!

And yes, in my experience it is common practice to pull out any really negative feedback sheets from the pile, if you get an opportunity!!

Finally, I know of one institution where they inspected all the teachers internally before the inspection to see if they were worthy of being inspected... anyone bad was shipped out to the satellite site for the week (no map was provided for the inspectors, so could not just turn up - but had to ask, giving the school warning!) Further all lesson plans were inspected and approved of beforehand and everything was covered in all aspects.... In a way that just does not happen in real life. It does make you ask - how can inspectors see beyond the show, if they never get to see the bad sides??

Forgot to add, that most schools know when an inspection is coming even before they get notice, because of the cycle. My school has even started post dating its memos so it looks as though it developed policies ages ago and not just for the inspection that is expected soon!

Shocking. That is just misleading. OFSTED should be told. Is there a whistleblower's line?!

Our school (and subsequently Head) was slated for 'shipping in' good teachers and 'shipping out' poor teachers for the week of the inspection!!

I find OFSTED ghastly, especially the new grading system where you get marked 1 - 9 on your teaching ability and performance.Just awful....would rather eat human flesh than endure it again!

There is a certain amount of preparation as teachers have to hand the inspectors their timetable a month in advance, so they can plan which lessons they will observe. In primary schools this is usually not too rigid normally. As a result the planning for ofsted has to be very rigid too for that week so that you teach what you said you would at a certain time.

There are no grades for teachers anymore. Or certainly not round here. There was in my first inspection - in about 1998/9 maybe. But as a school the teachers all had a binning of theirs without opening them :) They envelope was put in pigeon holes as the inspection ended and we did just bin them and throw them in the main bins immediately.

OFSTED should not, IMO, be about inspecting individual teachers. Education and schools are about much more than what one teacher does in one lesson for one week.

No grades given in the OFSTED we had a year a so ago, or in the subsequent LEA and HMI inspections, since going into special measures.

HMI have left our school yesterday afternoon after two days of inspections. No idea what the result is yet - and won't find out until Tuesday when I go back in sadly. To "pass" the HMI inspection we apparantly needed 90% of all lessons at satisfcatory or higher, and 60% at good or higher.

Unles the kids decided to be on our side this time, don't think it will have happened :(