Ofsted: Recent developments

1. Ofsted: Recent developments Alan Sykes HMI Office for Standards in Education, England Association of British Schools in Chile/Latin American Heads Conference Friday, 11 November 2005

2. Policy and news context • A New Relationship with Schools • Every Child Matters • Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools • White Paper: Higher Standards, Better Schools for All

3. Ofsted • Office for Standards in Education • Non-ministerial government department - headed by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell - staff include Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and child care inspectors (CCIs) • Independent of the Department for Education and Skills

4. Ofsted established to … • ensure the regular inspection of schools - using independent inspectors trained, assessed and accredited by Ofsted - initially every four years (later six years) • Inform parents about their children’s school • bring about improvement

5. What does Ofsted do? • Inspects schools, further education, teacher training, children’s services in local authorities and education in other settings • Regulates and inspects childcare • Carries out surveys and thematic inspections • Gives advice to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills

6. Inspection of Schools • Regular inspection started in 1993 • but HMI inspections began over 160 years ago • All schools (about 23,000) now being inspected for at least a third time • Changes in inspection arrangements in 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005 • major change in arrangements 2005

7. Purposes of inspection • Remain essentially the same, but emphasis has changed. - accountability of schools - informing parents - helping schools to improve - informing national policy • Recent emphasis on ‘Every child matters’ agenda

8. Changes over twelve years Increased emphasis on: • Quality - rather than compliance • Impact - aspects judged in relation to their effect • Use of data - increasingly taking account of the context of the school and pupil level data • School self-evaluation - determines the ‘shape’ of the inspection

9. Ofsted – its mission to improve education and care Better education and care through effective inspection and regulation

10. New inspection arrangements 2005 Why change? A New Relationship with Schools • Inspection should play a greater role in supporting school improvement • Inspection should complement development planning and self evaluation in schools • Inspection to be less time consuming • Reduce the stress of inspection by eliminating, as far as possible, the notice given to schools

11. Inspection of schools from September 2005 • Schools inspected every three years (weaker schools more often) • Very little notice of inspection (2 days) • Short inspections (at most 2 days) with 1-5 inspectors • HMI directly involved in inspections • Inspections carried out to a published framework • School’s self-evaluation central to inspection • Performance data used to form an initial view about standards and progress • Parents’ and pupils’ views taken into account • No subject reports • Published report for parents and letter for pupils

12. Recent changes in inspection • More frequent inspection - more up-to-date information about schools - to track progress more easily • Reduced scale of inspection - focus on the things that matter • The notice of inspection - to reduce stress and burden on schools • Self-evaluation more central - inspection to complement self-evaluation - inspection to play a greater role in supporting improvement

13. Partners with Ofsted • Regional Inspection Service Providers - school inspections in regions • National Inspection Service Providers - Independent schools and colleges nationally • These providers are commercial companies that employ ‘additional inspectors’

14. Requirements set out in legislation The Education Act 2005 requires Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of schools to report on: • the quality of education provided in the school • how far it meets the needs of the range of pupils • the educational standards achieved • the quality of leadership and management, including whether the financial resources are managed efficiently • the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils • The contribution to the well-being of pupils

15. New inspection specifications • Framework - what is inspected - inspection arrangements • Guidance - how inspections are carried out - guidance on making judgements Available from Ofsted’s website [www.ofsted.gov.uk]

16. Inspection questions • How effective and efficient is the school and why? • What steps need to be taken to improve the provision further? • Does the school have the capacity to improve?

17. Inspection framework • Achievement and standards - How well do learners achieve? - Standards and progress - How good is the personal development of learners? - ‘Every child matters’ outcomes • The quality of provision - How effective are teaching, training and learning? - How well do programmes and activities meet the needs and interests of learners? - How well are learners guided and supported? • Leadership and management

18. Judgements • Judgements about the overall effectiveness of the school and about aspects are made on a quality scale • Quality scale has four points 1 Outstanding 2 Good 3 Satisfactory 4 Inadequate

19. Self evaluation • Schools complete and update annually • Includes performance and other data • Demonstrates the school’s use of parental, pupil and other stakeholders views • Explains the context of the school and how well it covers its statutory duties • Summarises the school’s self evaluation judgements against the framework criteria • Contains information to help the inspector to focus the inspection

20. Performance and assessment (PANDA) report • Produced annually for all schools • Available to inspectors before inspection • Schools access the PANDA report to help with their self-evaluation • Includes: - information about the context of the school - compares test and examination results with all schools - compares progress made by pupils with that of pupils in similar schools - compares the progress of different groups of pupils

21. Before inspection • Contact with the school - to inform about the inspection arrangements • Lead inspector uses performance and assessment report (PANDA), the school’s self evaluation and the previous report to develop a ‘pre-inspection briefing’ - Pre-inspection briefing sets out hypotheses and the plan for the inspection • Parents informed about the inspection - letter includes a questionnaire which is returned to the inspectors • School receives a copy of the pre-inspection briefing

22. During inspection • Inspection trails, including: - talking with staff, pupils, governors and parents - observations of lessons and other activities - sampling of pupils’ work - tracking management processes - analysing records and data • Discussions with senior managers and staff to test findings and hypotheses • Inspectors amend inspection plan if necessary • Meeting of inspectors to agree main judgements, which are shared with the school

23. After inspection • Report written and shared with the school within two days - report about 6 pages long • Published within three weeks after the inspection • Copy sent the report to parents • Letter for pupils • School incorporates the findings about what it should do next into its development planning

24. Schools causing concern • Most schools are satisfactory or better • Schools where effectiveness is judged as ‘inadequate’ are either: - identified as requiring special measures - given a notice to improve • Schools failing to give an acceptable standard of education and are not convincing in their ability to improve will require special measures • Schools not doing well enough, but show that they can improve will be given a notice to improve

25. Schools causing concern • Schools in special measures - get support from their local authorities - are monitored regularly by HMI - are re-inspected when they are judged to be adequate • Schools with a notice to improve - are expected to act on the findings - are re-inspected after one year - might be made subject to special measures if they do not improve enough

26. Joint Area Reviews • Replace LEA inspections • All local authorities will have a Joint Area Review over the period 2005/08 • Carried out jointly with nine other inspectorates or commissions • Evaluate the extent to which services in the area met the five outcomes for children (Children Act 2004) - being healthy - staying safe - enjoying and achieving - making a positive contribution - achieving economic well-being

27. Joint Area Reviews Consist of • Analysis of data and local authorities’ self evaluation • Field work including: - case reviews - neighbourhood studies - management

28. HMCI’s Annual Report • Published 19 October 2005 • Three parts - the quality of education and care - subjects and themes - the impact of inspection

29. The influence of inspection • Public awareness of education and assurance about education • Accountability of schools • Securing improvement • High quality, evidence based advice leading to policy development • Identifying strengths and weaknesses

30. Areas of impact – weak schools Schools identified as needing ‘special measures’ • Support from the local authority and regular inspection by HMI • Proportion has fallen over years • Over 12-13 years, over 1400 schools have recovered from ‘failing’ • 60% of the schools have become good schools and a small proportion are outstanding • We estimate that about 1million children have been ‘rescued’ from a very poor education

31. Self-evaluation - primary schools (%)

32. Self-evaluation – secondary schools(%)

33. Effective self evaluation • It asks the most important questions about pupils’ achievements, learning and development • It uses a range of telling evidence to answer these questions • It benchmarks the school’s and pupils’ performance against the best comparable schools • It involves staff, pupils, parents and governors • It is integral to the school’s central systems for assessing and developing pupils and for managing and developing staff • It leads to action and improvement

34. Some persistent weaknesses • Wide gap between the most effective and least effective schools • The most vulnerable children are often least well catered for • Differences in achievement between boys and girls and pupils from different minority ethnic groups • Too many schools, which are not weak enough to be failing, but are only mediocre

35. Overall effectiveness of schools (%)

36. Inspection development questions • Should inspection resources be focused more on schools that need most help? • Should the most effective schools have less inspection? • How can the capacity of schools to improve be increased? • Should more resources be put into supporting schools after inspection? …. and so inspection development continues.

37. White paper Ofsted • Ofsted to consult on a proportionate inspection system • ‘Satisfactory’ to become a demanding standard • Stronger powers over schools causing concern • Ofsted to investigate where parents have cause for concern about schools • Follow up inspections where behaviour is unsatisfactory Other • New school system - Trusts • Improved choice • Education tailored to the individual