Ofsted 01/10/2019 Notes – large, urban, area of deprivation, 2 form-entry primary.
Call.
10:30 Admin call – you’re being inspected, here are the names, questions around additional provision, wraparound, numbers and basic information. Your lead will ring soon – then email address confirmed for portal login details, parent letters etc. to come direct to HT.
NOTE – Have a crib sheet with all the key information section 5 says you need on it. Know what it says so you have easy and immediate answers.
11:00 Lead / HMI rings – they know your school from external data sources and the website. Suggest that website is a key tool in the battle. Personal observation – my name is easily googled and first hit – think they’d done that too! This is the time to start building rapport. Conversation spread across 90 minutes and in 2 parts. First one was logistics –plus governance, classes, school times, timetable, leaders’ names and subjects and already beginning to consider curriculum through how the day is spread out. Agreed for longer curriculum philosophy and 3 ‘I’ call at 14:15. I also used this as an opportunity to paint the school’s context – the stuff you wouldn’t see on websites and social media – 7 heads in 6 years, significant staff turnover, school passed from pillar to post – I am the stability etc. Other heads may have less to say but never assume they know – HMI and leads are busy people not oracles.
NOTE – Have your class timetables in a zip folder ready to send immediately. The HMI / lead has to produce a timetable for the 2 days – so the quicker they get this and the easier to understand they are (a) the more organised the school looks and (b) the easier the HMI /lead makes their timetable. We also mutually agreed that I’d send SEF, SIP and a bit of deeper analysis of unvalidated data that they had – two points here – only send what they ask / agree and send it straight away – ‘live’ or ‘working’ documents are believable and later helped to convince that we know our school, monitor effectively and action plans are tight and precise – that all important capacity to improve.
HMI shared email address – I never actually put anything on the portal in the end. Couple of clarification emails about timetables before 14:15. Draft timetable emailed before second phone call.
NOTE – Deep dives need to include lesson visits. If you have a stronger area of the curriculum that isn’t English or maths – make sure it’s happening on the days you’re likely to be inspected. The very organised could (could) jiggle timetables so they had a geography one good to go when the call comes. We didn’t – so deep dives were RE and PE on top of READ, WRITE and MATHS (these were no-brainers given that everyone gets early reading and our average outcomes fall well below national in other areas)
14:15 Second call. Discuss draft timetable – has used staff list to populate deep dive schedule.
NOTE – Staff on deep dives will need all morning out or all afternoon out ideally – We were fortunate to have the capacity to do that – not sure how smaller schools or leaders with many hats would do it? Also – no lesson visit to the leader who is being covered – but their books and children had better tell a good story if needed!
Curriculum discussion – if you have curriculum content on your website then you’d better know it – and know it in a way that you don’t have to read it verbatim. I have heard other schools have passed the phone between leaders – but I took the entire call regarding the intent, implementation and impact of our curriculum. I painted an honest picture of a work in progress that was tested repeatedly across the two days.
NOTE – Headteacher means head TEACHER during the phone call – or it did in our context and call. However, if I weren’t a subject lead in our school currently, I’d have had very little to do day 1 of our inspection with the inspection team.
So, by 15:15 phone calls done, timetable agreed – arrival agreed and time to brief staff.
NOTE – Share the timetable and, if you’re due, drip-feed key elements of the EIF into briefings and CPD – when they see themselves on the timetables staff should know implicitly what is being looked at, why and how. Make sure that there’s a key message of typicality – don’t do anything different – it won’t work!
In our context, some staff still go ‘on show’ when somebody comes in the room – still feel they need to ‘perform’ for the audience – it’s not even a conscious reaction, it’s a habit they’ve got into. TAs talking when teacher is talking so they look active impacts on pupils’ listening and understanding. Teachers talking to long when pupils clearly understand and look keen to get stuck in impacts on progress and challenge. Get your culture right – but you won’t be able to do that the night before Ofsted!
DAY 1
Logistics advice:
Save car park spaces, get them a big room – have tea, coffee and restrooms close at hand. A map of the school (depending on size) will be asked for – help them orientate in larger schools – attention to detail – where are the swipe doors – do you have spare fobs if needed?
Everything they do now is electronic – Wi-Fi codes, plugs and sockets etc. all VERY IMPORTANT
We had a spare room – but it wasn’t the most inviting – if I did it all again (when!) and had more time to plan, I’d showcase all the work and key messages I’d want them to see so it was in their faces every time they went back to it.
If you ensure the inspection runs smoothly – if you can make their job easier through forethought and planning, then your school looks organised and efficient! It’s not just about cakes and donuts – it’s about efficiency.
The welcome and arrival is still important – set the tone. Have office staff check badges, sign people in, hand over fire docs etc. – BUT MAKE IT SEEM NATURAL – NO BIG SHOWS – THIS IS BUSINESS AS USUAL
2 minutes ‘small talk’ then talk the logistics. Essentially team want to get in room, get on the Wi-Fi and introduce themselves to one another. They’ve got about 20 minutes to do this and don’t want to waste it with you! Know this – they’ll appreciate it.
The usual introductions to staff about 08:20 and this was a nice bit – HMI / lead showed from our conversations that they had a picture of the school and the team were genuinely here to help improve things for our pupils. Staff felt reassured I think – and as inspection continued it did so with the same level of integrity, professionalism and not a little empathy where needed – or as much as the EIF and CODE OF CONDUCT would allow for. I would say our team were professional but human.
The HMI / lead and two OIs were either in the job or not too far removed from the reality of the job and our contexts – not sure whether this was by design or luck.
08:30 – hold on to your hats, because it’s now FULL ON!
HMI / lead clarified a few curriculum points and explored our working relationships and roles as SLT a little further.
OI checked SCR – asked a lot of questions to check record keeper’s knowledge – asked about checks from SLT – timeliness, supporting policies – overseas checks, right to work etc. Then selected 2 random staff and wanted to see files / docs to cross reference with SCR information. ALL LINKED UP -big tick for Safeguarding.
NOTE –STILL ESSENTIAL THAT SCR is RIGHT, but they will look in DEPTH at how the systems behind it function. You can’t just think about pulling it together when you believe you might be due – must be a working document and a lived practice.
OI checked Breakfast Club (safeguarding and organisation, ratios etc.) then arrival and began to chat to parents.
NOTE – You still must send parent letters and PARENTVIEW still gathers views. 3 out of 300+ families responded for us – so the playground chats became important. On the second day we may have been at the main gate directed some key parents towards the inspectors!
DEEP DIVES
| Meeting with the subject leader – 30 mins
MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THEIR STUFF! · Subject knowledge · Content knowledge · Pedagogical knowledge TOUGH IN SMALLER SCHOOLS PERHAPS? |
· Does the intent of the curriculum area match the overall school vision? Where does it come from (probably Development Matters and National Curriculum at Primary) and how is it broken down?
· They asked to see long and medium term plans (if there were any) and any progression documents – they wanted to know how what’s set out on paper translates into what the children are doing daily. · What happens if need to deviate from plans? – essentially how do you ensure KEEP UP NOT CATCH UP or widening gaps? · YOUR MODELS FOR DELIVERY AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE as IMPORTANT AS THE PIECES OF PAPER – VERY BIG ON HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER AND WORKS (WILL WORK) IN HARMONY. · IF SUBJECT STILL DEVELOPING, THEN THE ABILITY OF THE SUBJECT LEADER TO IMPRVE THINGS IS CRUCIAL! |
| Lesson visits (min of 3) across a range of year groups and key stages, including early years (with subject leader) – approx. 1-2 hrs
EMBEDDED PROCESSES, RESOURCES MAXIMUM LEARNING |
· We’ll come in, we’ll come out and then we’ll come back again!
· It’s a lesson visit – not a teacher observation (there may be some staff who still don’t get that!) – want to see learning · Typicality is tested · Learning behaviours for B&A are scrutinised · Pitch and pace · IS THE LESSON IN THAT ‘GOLDILOCKS’ ZONE – where are the High Prior Attainers – what’s the same, what’s different? Where are the Low Prior Attainers – Where are SEND pupils? · Do pupils express what they’re doing, why – how it builds on from what they did yesterday – last week – last time – last year… |
| Meeting with pupils, those observed in the lessons with their books – approx.30 mins | · Broad questions that check the pedagogy and curriculum presented by leader translates to knowledge, skills and understanding in the pupils
· Look at their books – what was this work? What did you learn? What did you need to know beforehand? How will it help with what you’re doing now? Where do you think it will go next? · Can’t add much here – our pupils are lovely but at times too passive – their attitudes to learning were (in the majority) not quite where we’d want them to be according to the grade descriptors. |
| Work scrutiny from a range of year groups and key stages (with subject leader) – approx. 30 mins | · What does the vision and methodology you discussed at the start of the deep dive look like in the books?
· Can you exemplify it working well? · Can you exemplify how CPD has improved it where it’s not working well? · Have you identified, before you even look – which teachers, books and lessons were going to be better or needing improvement? |
| Teacher interviews | · Why did you teach what you taught?
· Where does it come from – can’t just say ‘medium term plans’ – adapting for needs of pupils but always with the aim of achieving Age Related Expectations or rapid closing of gaps. |
Other areas:
Behaviour and Attitudes – like deep dive – policy, paperwork and detail then tested at class, pupil and adult level.
Safeguarding – after SCR it’s DSL and key records, processes etc. but don’t forget preventative rather than reactive and don’t forget site safety, risk assessments (paper and dynamic) – a few easily reached examples will make your words look solid – but as above – tested with parents, pupils, staff.
Pupil Premium – not much changed – challenges around data if difference. Precision of spend key.
Attendance was interesting – our PA has come down from 15.3% to 9.3% – still ‘above’ national but in reality, only out by 3 pupils
NOTES
There’s behaviour and conduct and then there’s learning behaviours – make sure both layers are good.
The wider curriculum is key.
Many thanks from me!