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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Score:
Concentration
Score:
Enthusiasm
Score:
Progress
Score:
Overall
Progress
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
L&M
QUALITY
TEACHING
&
LEARNING
MONITORING
&
EVALUATION
ALL PUPILS MAKE
GOOD PROGRESS
QUALITY
CPD
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.