School leaders have been urged to “take control” and “drive” their Ofsted inspections, without being afraid to challenge inspectors when appropriate.
The message was given to delegates at SecEd’s Fourth National Pupil Premium and Ofsted Conference, which took place in Birmingham on Friday (October 2).
The event – attended by 180 teachers and school leaders – hosted a range of school-led workshops discussing Pupil Premium best practice and Ofsted inspection.
With the new Common Inspection Framework being introduced by Ofsted this term, the keynote sessions were led by Elaine Long, an inspections specialist.
Ms Long’s key message to schools was that it is for them to “take control” of their inspections: “This business of Ofsted-readiness is about you taking control and you driving the inspection. It’s about putting you in charge – it’s you who knows your school and your pupils.”
The new regime has introduced shorter one-day monitoring inspections of schools rated “good”, which are to take place every three years.
Ms Long, who was an inspector from 2011 until August 2015, added: “The new short inspections for good schools give us a real opportunity to drive (the inspection visit). If you think you are an outstanding school, the onus is going to be on you to provide the evidence. It’s a professional dialogue.”
Ms Long urged schools to challenge inspectors if they felt their conclusions or interpretations of things like data were inaccurate. She added: “If you are concerned then you have to prepare to stick up for it and to challenge in an appropriate way.”
Ms Long, who was a teacher for more than 35 years, including 17 years as a school leader, also identified a number of specific issues that, in her experience, often tripped up schools during inspection.
Safeguarding
With so many changes to safeguarding policy nationally, schools that only update their safeguarding policies annually could trip up, Ms Long warned. She explained: “Health-check your safeguarding policy. There have been a lot of changes since March this year. I have done inspections in July when policies have not been complete. Make sure that the reference documents you are working from are the latest ones.”
Radicalisation
The new duty on schools to tackle radicalisation is also a common problem area. Ms Long told delegates: “I have gone into schools and they have not had radicalisation training, (there is) no policy, and no identification of pupils who are at risk. You have to list somewhere in your school the children and families who you think might be at risk of radicalisation. And we are not just talking about one particular faith, we are looking for extreme right warnings as well.”
She also advised schools to read the Ofsted guidance for Section 8 unannounced behaviour inspections, which is “illuminating regarding Ofsted’s focus on how students can keep themselves safe and healthy”.
Pupil Premium
On the Pupil Premium, Ms Long urged schools to focus on their within school variation: “If heads got their within school variation down they would make significant gains and improvements, far more than they would do when competing with the local school down the road.”
She also warned that reports for inspectors were often too general: “Pupil Premium reports have probably been the least successful because they are too general and they are vague; 33 pupils are in receipt, 17 receive literacy one-on-one, six went to the theatre – I want to get underneath that.
"Show me a Pupil Premium student that has good attendance, making good progress, two or three interventions, and which is making the biggest impact?”
School websites
School websites are often a problem, Ms Long warned: “I go into a lot of schools where the website is not up-to-date. If your website has not got the information it needs it does become a leadership and management issue. Curriculum statements, how you spend the Pupil Premium, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development – it’s a key tool.”
Curriculum statements in particular help inspectors to start to “assess the breadth and balance of the school’s curriculum”, while other key detail includes SEN information reports and the promotion of equality.
She added: “If you are having a short inspection because you are a good school, the more information you can give on your website the better. A good inspector will spend a lot of time going about the website. This frees up more time for them when they are in school to focus on the things you want them to focus on.”
Non-specialist teachers
On teaching and learning, Ms Long said that focus will be on teachers’ “deep learning and understanding of their subject”. As such, schools that are using non-specialist teachers, especially in subjects like maths, will need to be aware.
Medicines
Ms Long said that many schools fall foul of the new requirements on medicines in schools: “It has been a big issue in a lot of schools that I have been in. There is very specific guidance.”
Data
Ms Long advises having the latest data available because often the information from RAISEOnline is “already out-of-date by the time they come into your school”.
Key stage 3
There is now a “real focus on key stage 3”, Ms Long said. “There is an assumption that key stage 3 children are not challenged enough.”
Further information
- Safeguarding guidance and policy documents, DfE:http://bit.ly/1iVHC91
- Ofsted guidance on unannounced behaviour inspections (Section 8): http://bit.ly/1M8TFXR
- What Maintained Schools Must Publish Online, DfE: http://bit.ly/1Ne476u
- Supporting Pupils At Schools with Medical Conditions, DfE: http://bit.ly/1VwC1b5