Ofsted chief unveils new blueprint for inspecting good and outstanding schools
24 Mar 2014 12:39 PM
Ofsted’s Chief
Inspector last week (Friday) proposed a new way of inspecting the great
majority of schools in England.
In a keynote speech to the
Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conference, Sir Michael
Wilshaw argued that those schools currently judged good by Ofsted (60 per cent)
should no longer be subject to full routine inspections in the way they are
now.
Instead, they should receive
more frequent, but light-touch visits every two to three years by one of Her
Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) - or a serving school leader working as an
associate Ofsted inspector - whose job would be to engage in professional
dialogue with senior staff.
Sir Michael said these visits
would be 'challenging but also constructive'. The findings of the visit
would be sent to parents by letter.
He said the planned changes -
the detail of which will be developed over the next 18 months in consultation
with the Department for Education and the professional associations –
should be underpinned by three important principles:
- The need for Ofsted to undertake
a root and branch review of outsourced inspection. (Sir Michael said that
inspection is too important for Ofsted to simply have oversight of third party
arrangements).
- The need for Ofsted to move
towards more proportionate and risk-based inspection of those schools that need
greater intervention - while incrementally moving away from routine
‘section 5’ inspections of good schools.
- A belief that Her
Majesty’s Inspectors should lead the great majority of school
inspections. Sir Michael said he plans to increase the number of HMI posts over
the next few years and include a much larger number of seconded outstanding
serving school practitioners.
Under these proposals, a full
inspection will only be triggered when inspectors see either steep decline or
significant improvement in a good school. Even if the HMI does see some
problems in a school, a full inspection may not be required - as long as the
school leaders are tackling the problems effectively.
Sir Michael
said:
'At the moment, it can be
five years or even more between inspections for a good school. This is too
long. It’s too long for parents. It’s too long between inspections
to spot decline, and it’s too long for improving schools to show that
they are outstanding.
'Far better for an inspector
to visit the school for a day than for a full team to descend on the school
more infrequently, and then giving, more likely than not, the same judgement as
the previous inspection.'
Similar arrangements will also
be applied in the future to 20 per cent of schools judged
‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. These schools are already – and will
remain – exempt from routine inspection. However, where there is a dip in
performance or other concerns are raised, they will in the first instance be
subject to new, shorter monitoring inspections.
Sir Michael also used his speech
to call for the schools profession to take “more ownership of
inspection”. He wants to work with the National College of Teaching and
Leadership to promote a new Fellowship programme to recognise those
headteachers who step up to serve the national interest by working with Ofsted
to improve standards in England’s schools.
The Chief Inspector argued
strongly that all publicly-funded schools should be accountable to one
inspectorate and be judged against agreed national standards. He also said that
'those who advocate a different inspection system for academies and
free-schools must be very careful not to be seen as apologists for lower
standards.'
However, he reiterated the point
that Ofsted is not interested in grading individual teachers. Inspectors
instead sample a proportion of lessons to get a sense of the quality of
teaching across the whole school and to assess if the leadership of the school
knows what’s happening in the classroom.
Finally, Sir Michael made clear
that good teaching only happens when the atmosphere is right in a school and
children respect the authority of staff.
He said:
'Poor behaviour often leads
to poor teaching because teachers feel constrained, almost straight-jacketed,
in believing that doing things differently will lead to poor discipline in the
classroom.
'That’s why
we’re focusing much more on attitudes to learning in our behaviour
judgements. And that’s why we’re conducting a series of focused
inspections of schools where judgements on behaviour have previously required
improvement.'
Notes to
editors
1. The Office for Standards in
Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects
to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in
education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects
childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family
Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher
training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community
learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure
establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects
services for looked after children, safeguarding and child
protection.
2. Media can contact the Ofsted
Press Office through 03000 130415 or via Ofsted's enquiry line 0300 1231231
between 8.30am - 6.00pm Monday - Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings
and weekends, the duty press officer can be reached on 07919
057359.
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