HMIe analysis

[mybeardeddaughter]

Hi, posted on chat and no replies.

My niece's school was inspected last week and there seems to have been a disaster.

I will be very open and admit this is all gossip, but I'm a bit worried about sending my DC there now. We are stuck between private and state- we thought we'd chosen state but all this isn't filling me with joy. It did have a great reputation.

It is an RC school and the parish priest has formally complained because the head inspector was 'disrespectful'.
The school has not been signed off yet.
The Head has been in an obvious state of nerves and stress all week. The teachers all look grim and are not answering any questions.
The PT was seen arguing with the head inspector.

This isn't normal, is it? What will happen next?

Nobody will be able to answer questions until the inspection report is published. It is confidential until then.

It may well have gone very badly but at the moment it sounds like gossip and rumours not hard facts. What do you mean by signed off?

Is your niece happy there? Are her parents pleased with her progress?

Someone was gossiping today that the report could be held back until August.

It's a small place, as you can probably gather!

What do you mean by signed off?
If a school isn't signed off, HMI are back within 1 or 2 years.

DN is happy enough, but my ILs have had a few minor issues/ gripes. They don't feel she is pushed enough and her class seem quite 'lively'.

Education Scotland have advice for parents about inspections on their web site. You may find that useful to read.

The head of my son's nursery asked HMI to leave during their inspection. So not suprising report was poor. But the reports aren't always very meaningful. I wpuld place more weight on the views of people attending the school. And remember you can have lively classes in privateschools too.

Thanks. There should be a letter coming out to parents next week according to ES.

The head of my son's nursery asked HMI to leave during their inspection.

But the reports aren't always very meaningful. I wpuld place more weight on the views of people attending the school.

I know. The problem is that we're not really close enough to another school to be pleasantly commutable, IFKWIM.

And remember you can have lively classes in privateschools too.

Yes, but the school we're looking at does not go above 16 in primary, whereas this school has constantly been expanding and most classes are now above 30. Big difference!

It sounds as though the school doesn't have a particularly strong management team.

Our school was recently inspected and none of us would have dared argue with an Inspector. I wouldn't like to hear the answer if anyone asked them to leave to be honest. They basically come in on the Monday and look over school improvement plans, attainment statistics and the monitoring and evaluation tools schools use (as well as many other things) as well as ask hundreds of questions. They then observed (it was 3.5 days for various observations) in our school. They then feedback on the Friday to the management team on what their findings are and what will be in the inspection report.

In my experience of school inspections parents normally get a short letter advising of any findings 3/4 weeks afterwards. The report can take a wee while to be formally published as they can be quite lengthy.

The inspection report focuses on education and attainment really. I've been in a few schools that have had a less than positive inspection yet the children attending have been happy and progressing well. If your DC is happy at the school and learning I wouldn't worry about it too much.