School ratings a bit of a sham?

[Ahmawa]

I went to see the head of a school and she mentioned that she was preparing all the materials and documents for inspection and based on those Dep of Ed would class the new school as outstanding. Even though she said there would be no inspection for 2 years.

So is this all just window dressing. What matters are results and grades. ratings are misleading.

What do you mean? Schools have to prepare a self-evaluation form and grade themselves for Ofsted according to the evidence they provide. Ofsted look at this, but can decide it’s rubbish and give a different grade.

It is true that Ofsted ratings can be misleading
It isn’t true that all that matters is results and grades

Well in a way it really is all fake as each teacher and each class cohort is unique. Part of the process is administrative paperwork and isn’t a true reflection of what is actually happening to your child.

Thundercracker is exactly right

Ofsted ratings aren’t the be all and end all but neither are results.

Personally I would give higher weighting to the progress that pupils make, which takes into account their starting points.

New school?

Does this school actually exist or is was she talking hypothetically? How can a new school have results?

It could be an 'old' school which is converting to an academy, but even so all history/results are wiped.
So yes, Osfted gratings can be misleading. The 'old' school could actually be inadequate but will avoid inspection for at least two years.

I don't think this is correct. Maybe I'm wrong but I didn't think it was possible for the Head to know for sure that their school would be rated outstanding based on documents alone?

A head wouldn’t know the rating they’d get, but they have to rate the school themselves and provide evidence on all the areas that Ofsted inspect. So they’d say to Ofsted ‘we reckon we’re good in these areas and outstanding in these, and here’s why. Ofsted then do some checks and agree/disagree. Short inspections mean nowadays that schools do most of the work for Ofsted.

Have they put their staff through the horror of a "Mocksted" to be claiming that?

Ofsted look very closely at pupil progress!!! It’s a huge thing for them!

I cannot see why staff get so upset at a mock Ofsted. If you are doing Performance management you know where you need to improve. You should know what progress your children are making and what you can do to improve progress because it’s in the SDP. A “mock” inspection is not going to be a surprise - it should be a confirmation of what you know already with evidence to back it up. A school must know what is good about the school and what needs improvement. One day of people coming in and going over everything won’t change that.

If you don’t have the evidence then I can see why there might be horror!

Ofsted is a complete load of shite. It really is. Please, please don't take their word as gospel. My DD goes to an 'outstanding' school. The majority of her teachers so far have taught things incorrectly, such as your/you're or there/their/they're. A successful inspection is aaall about the management and how great they are at schmoozing with the inspectors.

A friend (who's a teacher) put a photo of a quote from Ofsted's Michael Wilshaw up on Facebook, saying, "If anyone says to you that 'staff morale is at an all-time low' you know you are doing something right."... and there's the reason teachers commit suicide or leave the job with stress.

It's all utter rubbish, with the DoE pompously barking out orders on how to teach our kids with totally unrealistic methods and targets (such as expecting new non-English speaking children to be on par with English-speaking kids in their SATs and quite literally telling the teacher they're useless when the new child doesn't reach the target) when they've not actually been teachers themselves. I could go on. This myth that Ofsted is the be-all-and-end-all is just ridiculousness that needs to stop. They need bringing down.

Yes! What Lido said. I do think schools should be inspected as standards and safety should be looked at. What I think is ridiculous is basically everything Lido said. It should be a developmental process done with the school not to it.
‘Outstanding’ schools in my area haven’t been inspected in 10 years.

cannot see why staff get so upset at a mock Ofsted

Because it’s stressful, unnecessary, inaccurate and often costs thousands of pounds paying outside ‘consultants’.

I think (if I'm getting my posters right) the OP has been allocated a new school for their reception aged child. The school is being built and so porta-cabins are in the place and the first cohort will be very small. I seem to recall a post from the OP saying they were going to visit the school/head but wanted advice on what to ask about given the usual advice relevant to existing schools (ofsted, school vibe, facilities, extra curricular etc) would be less applicable....