Join us for a webchat with Ofsted's Chief Inspector of Education Sir Michael Wilshaw – 11.30-12.30, Tuesday 9 September 2014

[VikkiMumsnet]

As the academic year in England, Wales and NI gets underway, we're pleased to welcome Sir Michael Wilshaw into MNHQ for a webchat on Tuesday 8th September, for an hour from 11.30am.

As Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England since 2012, Sir Michael's responsibilities cover every aspect of Ofsted's work, from inspections to exams, reporting on the quality of education and children's services at both local and national level. His former career includes 43 years in teaching, with 26 spent as a head teacher in London secondary schools – most recently as Executive Principal at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney.

You can catch up with Sir Michael's most recent views on everything from poverty to private schools here.

Post your questions for Sir Michael below, and be sure to join us live on the 8th, from 11.30am.

On what evidence are the strict attendance rules, and assessment of school quality on attendance, based? How have researchers controlled for poverty, conditions at home, and other factors that would confound results? Would you consider relaxing these rules? And if not, why aren't independent schools (apparently) subject to the same constraints? If 95%+ attendance is so important, then children in independent schools should not be disadvantaged by more relaxed attendance rules. That we don't see them as disadvantaged just highlights how silly the current system is.

Illness, ie a hospital stay or sickness bug will clearly affect attendance.

The term time holidays were only allowed to those with good attendance records, so how does stopping approval of these holidays help with attendance of those who were already consistently absent? Is this really just a money spinner for the councils?

Senua and a better list of questions on Parentview

Does my child get age appropriate homework( many kids will be above or below and many parents won't know)

Is my child taught well?(I don't know,I never observe lessons)

Is my child making good progress(a lot of us aren't told even if they're not and certainly don't get the definition of good progress as some heads seem reluctant to share that info).

Also if you have several kids in a school you could fill the questionnaire out entirely differently for each.

Hi there

Thanks for all the questions in advance, great to see.

Just a note on the childminder topic, the question (and different permutations) have been asked, so no need to post again.

It's really important that webchat guests have the chance to answer as many different questions as possible, as we want to make sure that all our users get their thoughts and views heard.

Thanks

MNHQ

Sir Michael,

"A good head would never be loved by his or her staff, he added: "If anyone says to you that 'staff morale is at an all-time low' you know you are doing something right."

You made this comment a couple of years ago. Do you really believe that low staff morale is a sign of a good head? Don't you think that it's more likely that low staff morale would lead to higher staff turnover, teachers being off sick, stress, less goodwill for extras etc, which is not good for the children?

Sorry, I missed the one question rule.

So. Will there be a proper investigation into the claims that Ofsted tipped Ormiston Victory academy off as to the date of its inspection (with prosecutions if necessary as such information is subject to the Official Secrets Act) and why did they initially say that there was no evidence when there had in fact been a serious and detailed complaint from a parent at the school?

Hello Mumsnet

I fully understand the reason why you have asked for the same question about childminders not to be asked again - and why my colleagues all want to ask the same question.

It might be helpful if there was a way for posters to indicate that they support a particular question - so that everyone (and in this case Sir Michael ) realised how many (and how strongly) people fell about certain topics / questions

That way people would feel that they have made their strength of feeling known.

senua if I recall rightly (and I could be mistaken) we were able to do ours online. I think we were on Parentmail and the school texted us to let us know the children would bring home details of how to do it online with them that day.

I do agree about some of the questions being hard to answer well.

It has been quoted that approximately 40 per cent of new teachers leave the profession within 5 years. As a current Primary PGCE trainee how would you ensure I choose to stay (and progress) in the profession? (I was a Registered Childminder so a 60+ hour working week and ever changing legislation is the norm for me.)

With regard to your recent disparaging comments about childminders, I wondered if you have ever actually visited a childminder to see first-hand the tremendous work they do.

I would also like to ask that Ofsted inspection parent questionnaires are handled differently.

Parents do not always wish to be completely honest as they fear the headteacher will read their comments. At our school there were suspicions that the questionnaires were somehow intercepted in the office and the worst ones fished out and removed. I have no idea if that is true but it must be possible if the envelopes were opened. There was a GREAT deal of disquiet among parents who seemed to have a lot of gripes with the school yet when the inspection report came out, all sounded jolly and rosy. It read like a different school to the one where almost all the parents I know, and all the parents they in turn know in other classes at that time were pretty disgruntled.

It would be much more reassuring for parents to be able to fill in comments anonymously online or having the option of doing so, alongside a paper questionnaire.

Given the recent information regarding the fact that some schools within Rachel Dr Souzas flagship 'inspiration trust's had advance knowledge of when they were to be inspected how are we supposed to trust ofsted to be impartial and a good judge of schools?

hangs head I know, and this was just yesterday's highlights. But if this is an 'Ofsted outstanding school' how bad are the rest?!

In reality you never know what a school is like from an Ofsted report and a single visit to work out how Head manages behaviour (they set the standards and school culture). Concerned if we move it could be worse.

So, for us we are following due process and at stage 2 in complaints system with the county council attending our hearing. Let's see just how far up the system's failings go.

Sir Michael's here and about to kick off any moment now.

How do you feel about the widespread perception of Ofsted as scary, negative and fault-finding? As a teacher, I find the positive in children's work and praise them, then give them ideas on how to improve.

someone needs to chase him out of the cloakroom and get him to hurry up putting his packed lunch away...

@gazoo

As a registered childminder I am DESPERATE to know why in your recent interview you said that the 2 year funded children should go in to school & NOT a " local childminder" your suggestion that childminders are not good enough is deeply insulting and I would like to know why you felt it an appropriate statement !

Good morning,

It's nice to be here in Kentish Town this morning with Mumsnet.

I can see there are a lot of questions and comments about childminders. I know that many childminders do a good or outstanding job. But the problem is that there aren't enough skilled childminders in poorer areas.

The answer, which I identified in the Ofsted early years annual report in April, is school-based nurseries - they can help poorer children be ready to learn when they begin primary school.

Sir Michael

I am a trustee for a parent-managed small community pre-school. Even before your unfortunate comments about childminders I felt that Ofsted had a very narrow rigid view of what is acceptable education for three and four year old children.

It is becoming clear that Ofsted don’t want small, term-based, childcare settings that run independently from schools unless they are privately run nurseries. This becomes apparent with each new policy and change. The funding structure for early years is becoming obtrusive.

Last year funding for the 15 free hours was cut by 30p an hour per child. This is equivalent to £171 a year per child. This is a significant amount to lose. At the same time support for staff training was cut whilst training requirements were raised.

One example of the obtrusive funding structure is that we cannot receive a higher rate per child as we do not offer enough different start and close times. However we do not need to offer different start and close times! Parents are happy with the sessions we offer. Our village does not need more 8am-6pm childcare. We should not be penalised for the simple three hour sessions we offer, we should be applauded for not charging stealth top-up fees by forcing parents to pay for extended hours, for lunch time, etc.

We cannot offer the resources of a private nursery or a school affiliated nursery, for example we have less IT equipment. But we do have good play resources, and brilliant staff (who we pay as high a rate as we possibly can). There is a clear demand by local parents who actually don't want us to have lots of laptops. They do want a really close knit community where our children are happy and learning, and parents are involved. They do appreciate our simple hours and the fact that there is no restriction on how their child's funded hours are used.

Can you comment on why Ofsted are so arrogant as to disregard this parent choice for their pre-school children by policy wonking it into the ground? Will you be reviewing the early years funding structure to make it clear and equal to allow all childcare settings to thrive?

All the evidence shows that poorer children are two, sometimes three, years behind their more prosperous peers when they start school. If we're serious about social mobility then we have to tackle it at the very earliest stage in a child's life. Ofsted evidence shows unequivocally that children from disadvantaged backgrounds do better in school-based nurseries than anywhere else.

@Vivacia

Why are some academies failing Ofsted inspections? I thought the whole point of academies was to turn around failing schools and release them from the yoke of Local Education Authorities?

Hello,

You're quite right. Academies were set up over 10 years ago to help poorer children do better. Many of those academies have succeeded in raising attainment in a way that was not being done in local authority schools.

Indeed, before I joined Ofsted I was principal of an academy in east London on a site of a very badly failing local authority school. My academy did extraordinary things for poor children and sent a large number to university.

However, if academies are not run properly, not well-led and governed, then things can go badly wrong. No matter what badge we put on a school there are certain core principles which have to be adhered to if it is going to succeed. I've mentioned leadership and governance but it's also important to ensure that the culture of a school is good, pupils behave themselves, and that teachers have high expectations of children across the age and ability range.

Now that we've got more than half of all secondary schools in England as academies, it is important that these principles are carefully thought through by those who sponsor academies. Ofsted will use the same inspection criteria for all schools, whether they are local authority schools, academies or free schools.

We inspect without fear of favour.

Sir Michael

@awfulomission

To what extent can schools that serve deprived coastal towns learn from the relative success of those in inner city areas? Are there challenges that are unique to these coastal areas to which, say, London's experience is irrelevant?

Hello,

This is something that's really close to my heart. If you read our report entitled Access and Achievement - 10 years on, you will see that we have highlighted the problems of underachievement and low ambition in rural and coastal areas. Many of the problems of underachievement in the inner city have been tackled over the last 10 years and we are now seeing rising levels of attainment in places like London, Manchester and Liverpool.

However, many children from white working class backgrounds are doing very badly indeed. The concentrations of this demographic are in coastal and rural areas. The government must develop a strategy to deal with this in a way that replicates the initiatives that were taken in London a few years ago. London Challenge made a huge difference to London children.

Sir Michael

Can you please highlight the document that shows this evidence, and does it compare childminders results at the same time.

Has it occurred to you that the withdrawal of LA funding contributes to this alleged lack of skilled childcare, or that parents in poorer areas can't afford to send their child to a provider and THAT may be why there are issues?

2 year old funding is still being withheld by LA's for childminders, and 2 yr old funding is still new so hasn't had long enough to establish any result

@senua

I'm afraid that I haven't got time to read the thread, so apologies if I am repeating what someone else has said.

School Ofsted inspections happen very quickly these days - blink and you miss it. Part of the inspection is asking for parents' views, which I believe are very important because they know the impact that the school is having on their DC and will report problems that the school may try to hide or gloss over.
So why do parents' questionnaires rely on the DC bringing home paperwork? We all know that DC are bad at passing on information (eg the minor matter that an inspection is even taking place!) and that paperwork languishes for days in bookbags, often never seeing the light of day. The chances are that the Inspectors will be long gone by the time the parent is aware of (a) the inspection and (b) the questionnaire.

Can we please have the questionnaire sent directly to parents by e-mail.

Hello,

Thanks for your question.

It's very important that parents contribute to the inspection process. The previous procedure of sending out questionnaires to parents on the first day of inspection proved to be inefficient and led to a minority of parents responding.

That is why Ofsted has introduced an online survey called Parent View. It is important that parents log on to this survey on a regular basis to give their views on how the school is doing.

This is not only important for Ofsted, but also for the leadership group of the school who can then respond to the concerns of parents, not about individual children but about generic issues facing the school.

It's vitally important that the leadership of the school informs parents about Parent View and provides the IT facilities in the school for those families who do not have a computer at home.

I know of one school in a disadvantaged area which lays on a bank of computers at open evenings for those parents who want to use this online survey.

Sir Michael

why do you wan to extend school hours. Do you not consider that part of the education of children to be done at home . I consider education to be about more than exam results be be able to function in the world. I consier a secure home family base to do that and while I realise not everyone has that I don't see why family time should be taken away from those who do

Where is the evidence that academies do better than LA/community schools, especially at a primary level?

I don't believe school based nurseries are the magic wand for social mobility you are hoping them to be. Some parents prefer not to send their child to a school environment until they legally have to.

Also, if early intervention is so vital are you proposing school nurseries take from the age of two? There are several primary schools in our village. None have a school nursery. None have the space to even take three/four years old - several of the schools have taken a bulge class for reception this year and are bursting at the seems. There will be no provision for early years at all, aside from private nurseries, if you don't support childminders and pre-schools in our area.