Question about ofsted inspection

[karmaqueen84]

Hi, I'm a new member of mumsnet and was recommended to join this site by a friend so I'm hoping I'm in the right place lol.
On the walk home from school my son (7) has been talking about the recent 2 day ofsted inspection (they left yesterday) and was talking about how he didn't get a 'special prize' from his head teacher. When I asked him why he would be getting a special prize he told me that they had a special assembly on tues about ofsted coming and all children were told if the ofsted people wanted to talk to them they had to say good things, nothing bad, and the ones who did as they were told would be given this special prize?!?!?
I'm horrified that they would ask my son to tell an official body anything but the truth as he saw it, and that they are basically telling him 'if things might not go your way lie your way out of it!' Aside from anything else what is going on there they are so desperate to hide from ofsted? How would other parents react as I'm unsure what to do next.
Thank you for your help.
Erika

Hi,
Having had an inspection a week ago, I too am surprised by this offer of a prize for the reason you stated. If this is indeed true, the staff have been a bit daft and haven't thought much about how this reflects on them as a staff and school!
However, all I will say is that this is a time of stress for the staff and perhaps this was actually only meant to ask the children for their support for their school.
Also, although you know your child well in terms of maturity, sometimes our own little dears get it wrong and misunderstand things, especially at such a young age.
Hope you get your concerns addressed.
(-:

Ofsted puts schools under huge pressure. You are talking to a 7 year old. I think he has misinterpreted what was said. I expect they were told to be polite and talk nicely to the inspectors and show them how well they could behave. That's only to be expected. I doubt there's more to it that that.

I did wonder if he'd got things a bit muddled somewhere along the line tbh but I'm not totally sure he has, I THINK he's grasped the basic principle (as much as you can ever tell with little ones anyway lol). On further questioning I have now been told A boy and girl from his class had to speak to the man about whether they liked school but My ds wasn't picked. then they had to go see the head about what they talked about. They both got a 'special prize' but the girl got to choose a new book and the boy 'only got a pack of sweets cos he wasn't supposed to talk about A' (a different boy in the class who is constantly disruptive and myself and numerous parents have repeatedly had to report for bullying our children). I don't have any problem with them rewarding politeness and reminding children that they should be courteous when speaking to adults, or even them 'reminding' them of all the good things about the school so that's what they want to talk about but this just doesn't seem right to me . I'm also unsure as to the reason for the inspection in the first place, we had recently been told there was no inspection due this year and the school was given less than 24 hours notice before the arrival of inspectors, if I believe what other parents are saying (and im not sure I do) the inspection was due to a large number of complaints made against the school.
Wow that was a long post sorry lol
Thank you
Erika

Schools are given 24hrs notice as a matter of course.
When was the last inspection?

I think your son may be misinterpreting/exaggerating.
How does he know that the Head only gave a child sweets because they mentioned A?

I have no idea that's just what he said. Ofsted did a week inspection year before last when my son was in foundation and received 'good' rating whatever that means lol

That's the most bizarre bit - Ofsted don't normally come back 2 years later if they have given a good judgement.

I don't really know anything about how ofsted works but it didn't seem very long between inspections. my mum is a ta in a secondary school and my sister teaches in college and I know how stressed they get with inspections so I know it's a very big thing for the school but I was pretty sure the inspections they have were spaced further apart lol x

Good means the school is hitting national standards. Kids get asked to chat to inspectors so they can back up judgements, so to speak. Could be the inspection was re: complaints but might be the school didn't hit floor targets enough under the new Ofsted criteria which has been changing every term most recently!
Honestly, I'm sure you don't need to worry about the events as they are often misconstrued.

He may have misinterpreted it, and knowing 7 year olds the school would be dropped right in it if they had said that. I can just imagine in...end of the talk, kid pipes up - does this mean I get a special prize :)

Ofsted can come back anytime they want. The probability is that there has been a red flag raised about something. That could not be complaints to the school, unless parents were complaining to the LA or Ofsted rather than the school. Have you looked what is on PARENT VIEW for the school. If that was very negative then that could be a reason for another visit. The more likely reason is that the results of the school are on a significant downward trend over the last 3 years.
As for what the kids say. Well based on experience in inspecting schools in Wales, there is no doubt that one or more child would have dropped the school in the mire and spilled the beans. Whether it affects the outcome of the inspection is anybodies guess. See what is in the report but it will in all probability not say children were offered a bribe to say the right thing.

If any sort of complaint triggers an inspection, then it's pretty instantaneous and there wouldn't even be 24 hours notice. They can turn up at 8.30 in the morning.
Which would leave little time for the Head to prime specific children.

Ofsted can come back anytime they want.

I know they CAN, but it is fairly unusual unless there is a reason for it...

To be honest, Ofsted are so rushed off their feet, that it would have to be a pretty big red flag, or a fair few smaller ones, to warrant a spot-check. Or the school might have dodgy data as well, which might make it worth their while to take a look.