School seems good but got a bad Ofsted, how worried should I be?

[Flexibilityisaghost]

DS is in Y2. I have been happy with how things are going at school for him, but I am mainly relying on what I am being told by his teachers to form this opinion. I get very little information from DS about school. His standard reply to me asking what he did at school is "forgot." He seems happy to go to school and enthusiastic about learning though.

The school was recently inspected by Ofsted, and found to be requiring improvement. I have heard rumours that they were only just about special measures. My first thought was that I should not worry about it, and base my opinion on how DS seems to be doing. Having thought about it though, I realise I do not really know much about what goes on at school on a daily basis, and I am not sure how concerned I should be.

I'm a school governor, and I think that, if DS seems happy and you have no concerns, it would be silly to uproot him based on this. Our school went from Outstanding to Good earlier this year and I honestly believe it's just as good now as when it was rated Outstanding. There was a chance we'd get Requires Improvement too (one year of poor data pulled down our average progress figures). There are so many hoops for schools to jump through.

I think if you are happy with the school and your DS appears to be happy and thriving that is more important than the Ofsted report. Having said that, it does depend on what Ofsted said the RI was for and how the school are approaching dealing with the issues. If the head is saying these are the issues and this is what we are planning to do about them then I would be happy enough, if saying oh no we are fine, Ofsted is all wrong and doesn't understand us I would probably be less so. But if it is achievement then measures should be put in place - similarly leadership and governance. What did the school get for behavour and safety of pupils? - that is the one that would concern me most.

My way of looking at it is that I wouldn't be happy (indeed for a while my dd school was in the need for improvement category) but in most of the cases the schools actually get better rather than worse. So I'd rather be in a school that is doing its best to improve rather than a school that might be sitting on its laurels ifyswim. I don't think any of us really know how good schools/teachers are. I have met some really amazing teachers who have been told that their teaching methods are rubbish and I have met many teachers who think they are amazing and IMO have not been any good.

They got good for behaviour and safety of pupils. The comments since from the school have been along the lines that this is due to the change in the rules for inspections, alongside promises to improve.

Has the report been published yet?

I'd have a read through it, before panicking.

For me personally, I'd be glad that my child was happy and enthusiastic but my concern would be whether he was being challenged enough. I would keep a close eye on his attainment.

Having said that, I'd do that no matter what sort of report it was.

My DC used to be a in school that was "good with outstanding aspects". I was pleased with the school and felt it improved during their time there. Then Ofsted cam again and gave it a "satisfactory" rating (which would be "requires improvement" in the new system). It was amazing how many parents who'd previously been happy with the school suddenly started worrying!!

Conclusion - read the report, but be aware that anything Ofsted raise as a concern will be the next thing that the school will work on. If you were happy with the school yesterday, a bit of paper doesn't change how it is today.

Read the report and see if it matches your gut feeling. Our school got a RI last year, purely because of one figure on the dashboard. Everything else was fine. I am a governor, and I know that we have "fixed" that figure, but may have a problem with another figure...!

Doesn't actually make the school any better or worse.

Not worried at all. You know the school, Ofsted have seen a snapshot over approx 12 hours period, they don't know the school. Plus the inspection framework doesn't cover all the things you will rate as important. Go with what you know.