#EIF 2019. A Principal’s experience of a Section 8 inspection in a large secondary with a sixth form.
#EIF 2019. A Principal’s experience of a Section 8 inspection in a large secondary with a sixth form.
This is a very specific kind of inspection, which had a positive outcome. I have been on these inspections and they have a very close focus, so not a typical Section 8 inspection of a ‘Good” school.
It was a section 8 inspection, triggered by a well-dealt with qualifying complaint and was not converted into a section 5, nor were we informed that our next section 5 would be brought forward.
The specific areas of focus for the inspection were:
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PSHE delivery, including FBV and SMSC.
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Safeguarding procedures.
Our experience of the team, was on the whole very positive. They were very demanding in what they wanted to see and how quickly, but they were very professional about it and keen to make sure that they weren’t straying outside the remit of the inspection. They spoke at length to a wide range of pupils and sixth form students about their experiences of PSHE, their understanding of how the school deals with bullying (particularly regarding protected characteristics), really examining if pupils felt safe.
The inspectors also spoke to a wide range of staff, testing the training that has been given and to establish if all members of staff understood their responsibilities around safeguarding.
Morning and afternoon bus duties were watched carefully, along with social times and again pupils were spoken to at these times to ascertain if what the inspectors were seeing was a normal day.
In terms of curriculum, there was a deep dive into the planning and delivery of PSHE and Character education (new this year in Year 7 & 8) with several lessons visited and the Head of Department scrutinised considerably.
They also looked forensically at attendance data, pursuing individual cases of Persistent Absence to ensure we were following up on absences routinely and that we were not leaving anything for any length of time, particularly when it came to pursuing a response from outside agencies and the local authority.
A thorough and in depth review of all safeguarding procedures, CP files, SCR and all aspects of risk management was undertaken to ensure compliance, including Health & Safety records, fire drill logs and the planning of trips and visits.
Our Alternative Provision pupils were looked into and a phone call made to the PRU to go through procedures and how we communicate on work and attendance. The lead inspector also spoke to two different governors and our SIP to ensure what we were saying about external challenge and evaluation was accurate.
An in depth review of exclusion data and process was also undertaken, with case studies looked at in detail.
All in all it was a very tough two days, possibly the toughest inspection in terms of intensity that I have experienced, but we survived!
