OFSTED INSPECTIONS

THE NEW FRAMEWORK (from September 2012)

www.ofsted.co.uk

Ofsted inspectors are required to report on the quality of education provided by schools and must, in particular, cover:

• the achievement of pupils at the school • the quality of teaching and learning at the school• the behaviour and safety of children at the school• the quality of leadership and management in the

school

For each category, Ofsted gives a grade of

1 – 4, and then gives a grade for the Overall Effectiveness of the school as follows:

1.OUTSTANDING

2.GOOD

3.REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT (next inspection within 24 months)

4. INADEQUATE (regular monitoring by Ofsted Inspectors)

• only GOOD is good enough

• schools that REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT will be inspected more frequently and will be supported and monitored to help them improve

• if a school is found to REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT on three consecutive inspections, it will probably be put into SPECIAL MEASURES

• however, if at the third inspection there is a clear upward trend, inspectors may give the school more time to become GOOD

• GOOD schools will be inspected again after 4 or 5 years

• OUTSTANDING schools are exempt from routine inspections but will be subject to a risk assessment after 3 years, and annually after that, and will be inspected if there has been a drop in performance

• when a school REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT the report will be clear about what the school needs to do to improve as well as its strengths

• if a school is INADEQUATE overall, the inspectors will monitor, support and challenge the school

• schools which are inadequate overall and which have inadequate leadership and management will be deemed to require SPECIAL MEASURES.

Ofsted will contact the school in the afternoon of the working day before the inspection. Inspectors see

schools as they really are.

What inspectors will need from a school

Inspectors prepare for inspections by reading the previous inspection report, analysing school data and collating responses from Parent View. They also look at the school’s website. It will help the smooth running of the inspection if the website includes:• a calendar of major events, including closures• the times of the school day• basic information about how the school is organised, including any alternative or specialist provision• information provided for parents.

What schools will need to have ready for inspectors

When the inspectors arrive, they will ask for some information. They will need:

• the names and responsibilities of staff

• timetables of all staff

• details of any changes to ‘normal’ routines.

Inspectors will need access to:

• details of the school’s internal monitoring and evaluation of teaching and how the findings are used

• a summary of the school’s self- evaluation and any evidence of the school’s improvement planning and subsequent progress

• information about performance management arrangements and anonymised information about performance management outcomes

Inspectors will also need access to:

• the school’s monitoring data for pupils’ progress and attainment – this includes data relating to pupils who receive alternative provision away from the main school site

• information about the use of the pupil premium and the impact this is having on pupils’ achievement

Inspectors will need access to:

• evidence relating to the work of governors and their impact

• the single central record which summarises the checks and vetting of all staff working with pupils

• records of exclusions, incidents of poor behaviour and bullying and racist incidents.

Inspectors will:

• spend time in classrooms and observe children in school

• talk to teachers and school leaders

• hear children in primary schools and some Year 7 and 8 pupils read

• look at data

• consider how well the school is promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

1. Achievement

• When judging achievement inspectors must have regard for pupils’ starting points in terms of their prior attainment and age

• This includes the progress that the lowest attaining pupils are making and its effect on raising their attainment, and the progress that the most able are making towards attaining the highest levels

• For the most able pupils, inspectors will check out their engagement, response and gains in learning in lessons and over time.

• Inspectors must grade achievement according to the proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium who exceed expected progress. Their attainment must be as that of other pupils in the school or improving.

• Achievement may be graded as inadequate if the most able pupils are judged to be underachieving

• The sports premium features in the section on achievement – inspectors will look at rates of participation, performance levels, healthy lifestyles and the quality and breadth of PE sports provision

2. Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning is at the heart of the new framework – it is the key driver.

What is teaching consistently like across the whole school?

Leadership & Management – closely linked to teaching and learning

How does leadership impact on pupil progress?

Inspectors are also directed to:

•evaluate the use of teaching assistants in the classroom, and the contribution they make to the progress of the pupils

•check out how schools teach reading to their weakest readers

•check the quality of pupils’ written work

• to be judged OUTSTANDING, a school will need to have outstanding teaching

• not every lesson during the inspection will need to be outstanding, but, over time, teaching must be enabling almost all pupils to make rapid and sustained progress

Teaching is likely to be inadequate where any of the following apply.

• As a result of weak teaching over time, pupils are making inadequate progress. • Teachers do not have sufficiently high expectations and teaching over time fails to excite, enthuse, engage or motivate pupils.• Pupils can not communicate, read, write or use mathematics as well as they should.• Learning activities are not sufficiently well matched to the needs of pupils so that they make inadequate progress.

WHAT ARE THE EMERGING ISSUES?

• Teaching is not judged on one-off lessons but over time• Students are asked directly about a lesson and the

typicality of what was seen. What was the last lesson etc.?

• Students’ work looked at to see sequence of teaching• Views of parents about teaching given weight• How will the teaching of literacy be assessed?

Learning Inadequate Requires Improvement Good Outstanding

The extent to which pupils acquire knowledge, develop understanding and learn and practise skills is inadequate.

The extent to which pupils acquire knowledge, develop understanding and learn and practise skills is at least satisfactory.

The pupils acquire knowledge, develop understanding and learn and practise skills well.

The pupils acquire knowledge, develop understanding and learn and practise skills exceptionally well.

Score:

Concentration Too many pupils fail to work effectively unless closely directed by an adult and give up easily.

Most pupils work effectively and are provided with appropriate tasks and guidance but lack confidence in improving the quality of their work.

The pupils are keen to do well, apply themselves diligently in lessons and work at a good pace.

Pupils demonstrate excellent concentration and are rarely off task, even in extended periods without direction from an adult.

Score:

Enthusiasm Pupils do not enjoy the activities provided, which is reflected in poor completion of tasks.

They generally work steadily and occasionally show high levels of enthusiasm and interest.

They seek to produce their best work and are usually interested and enthusiastic about their learning.

They have developed resilience when tackling challenging activities in a range of subjects.

Score:

Progress Pupils, or particular groups of pupils, make too little progress.

The pupils make the progress expected given their starting points and some, although not the majority, may make good progress.

A very large majority of groups of pupils make at least good progress – the majority of students are keen to succeed

Their keenness and commitment to succeed and ability to grasp opportunities to extend and improve their learning are exceptional.

Score:

Overall Progress

Pupils, or particular groups of pupils, make too little progress.

Progress is inadequate in no major respect, and may be good in some respects.

A very large majority of groups of pupils make at least good progress and some may make outstanding progress, with nothing that is inadequate.

Progress is at least good for different groups and is exemplary in some.

Inadequate Requires Improvement Good Outstanding

3. BEHAVIOUR AND SAFETY “Behaviour in lessons and around school is a key judgement”. They say:-

• Stimulating teaching promotes good behaviour• Pupils cannot learn where behaviour is poor and

lessons are disrupted and if attendance and punctuality are poor• Effective teaching promotes good social and moral

behaviour• Well–targeted support for individual pupils with challenging behaviour may be helpful• Pupils should be protected from bullying and feel

safe

Behaviour and Safety

•Inspectors must determine whether the pupils’ attitudes to learning help or hinder progress in lessons

•Inspectors should consider pupils’ attitudes to school, conduct and behaviour, during and outside of lessons, and their attitudes to other pupils, teachers and other staff

•If pupils are negative about the value of good manners and good behaviour as being key factors for the school, adult and working life, then behaviour and safety could be judged as inadequate

Behaviour and Safety

•The inspectors must judge the school’s success in keeping pupils safe, whether within school or on external activities e.g. risk assessments, and action taken following any serious safeguarding incident

•Inspectors will also consider bullying in the school, including cyber-bullying and prejucive-based bullying, by looking at the frequency of incidents and evidence of how well bullying is dealt with

•The Inspectors will look at how pupils conduct themselves at all different times of the day, including at lunchtime, and that they attend regularly, have good attitudes and are punctual to school and lessons

JUDGING BEHAVIOUR AND SAFETY

Particular attention therefore is paid to:-• Conduct in lessons, including attitudes to learning.• Conduct around school.• Attendance and punctuality• Behaviour and attitudes to others.• Respect for young people and adults.• How well they are protected from bullying.• Views of parents & carers - a lot of notice taken of these!• What is behaviour typically like? Not just during inspection.

4. Leadership & Management

• Vision & high expectations• Strong Governance• Improving T & L• The impact of leadership on standards• Robust monitoring – acting on findings• Consistency in knowing the strengths and weaknesses• Develops the capacity for sustained improvement• Strong parental support

ALL PUPILS MAKE GOOD PROGRESS

L & M

Leadership and Management

•Inspection must examine the impact of leaders at all levels and evaluate how effectively the school is led and managed

•Inspectors will also report on any contribution the school is making to improve the performance of other schools

Leadership and Management

Inspectors will:•pay particular attention to the contribution made by the head teacher in bringing about improvement in the school

•consider how well the school uses performance management and other strategies to improve teaching

•consider how effective the school’s procedures are for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning and the extent to which underperformance is tackled

•look at the quality of middle leaders in the school and the extent to which the school is developing future leaders

Leadership and Management may be judged as inadequate if:

•leaders are not doing enough to improve teaching for all groups of pupils

•the curriculum fails to provide effectively for the physical well-being of pupils

•poor literacy is not tackled urgently enough

•shortcomings in safeguarding procedures are not tackled urgently enough

School Governors

•Inspectors will check that governors understand the strengths and weaknesses of the school, and the impact of their own work

•The contribution of governors to the school is evaluated as part of the judgement on Leadership & Management

•As many governors as possible are expected to attend the feedback meeting at the end of the inspection

At the end of the inspection:

•The lead inspector will chair a meeting and share the main findings of the inspection

•The inspection outcomes are confidential to the school until it receives the final report

Ofsted’s inspection of schools in 2012/13(7905 schools inspected)

State of the nation: most recent inspection judgements for overall effectiveness of all maintained schools as at 31 August 2013:

Nursery

1% Inadequate

4% Requires Improvement

41% Good

55% Outstanding

Primary

2% Inadequate

19% Requires Improvement

61% Good

17% Outstanding

Secondary

5% Inadequate

24% Requires Improvement

48% Good

23% Outstanding

Children and young people in maintained schools and academies in England now have the best chance they have ever had of attending a good school.

Good and outstanding schools make up 78% of all schools inspected in England. As well as being an increase from 2011/12, this is the highest proportion of good or better schools in England since Ofsted began.