The New Ofsted Framework May 2012 January 2012

The new inspection framework since January 2012 What are the lessons so far? What should governors do to prepare? What are the proposals for change from September 2012?

The new Ofsted inspection framework from January 2012 is designed to Raise expectations especially for teaching and pupil achievement Give greater priority to early reading and literacy Focus in more depth on the quality of teaching and pupils’ behaviour and safety Give greater priority to the impact of school leadership on improving teaching and achievement Focus inspection more on schools that need to improve most

Key changes since January 2012 In judging the quality of the school, inspectors will make four key judgements: achievement the quality of teaching behaviour and safety leadership and management (incl. Capacity to improve) In judging the school’s overall effectiveness, inspectors will take account of the four key judgements and how well the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Key changes since January 2012 There is an even greater focus on: narrowing gaps in performance for groups of pupils quality of teaching and its impact on learning and progress reading and literacy behaviour and safety. Inspectors will expect to use a summary of a school’s self-evaluation in a form chosen by the school.

Statistics from Ofsted on first inspections under the new framework Out of 348 schools inspected in the first 3 weeks of the new arrangements, 57% were judged good or outstanding. Eight per cent of schools were judged outstanding 13% of schools were judged inadequate All schools with an outstanding overall effectiveness also had an outstanding quality of teaching.

Statistics from Ofsted on first inspections under the new framework Only 19% of schools improved 50% stayed the same 28% declined on their previous inspection. This compares with 34% improving, 47% staying the same and 19% declining at inspection during 2010/11.

What should governors do to prepare? Your ‘track record’ can be a millstone around your neck or a plus going into the inspection Ask senior leadership about your current ‘track record’ in Raiseonline and the implications of this record Consider your track record going forward based on predictions and the possible timing of your next inspection What might your track record look like in three or two years time given these predictions? What can you do to sustain/improve your track record going forward? (Ofsted say single most important action would be to improve the quality of teaching and make high quality teaching consistent across the school)

What we know: Track Record Over time! Subsidiary Guidance: Inspectors must use a range of measures to develop an initial picture of the school’s academic performance no single measure or indicator holds sway. Inspectors should not pre-judge inspection outcomes based on past performance data  However, inspectors should not ignore performance that is persistently poor or gives cause for concern

What should governors do to prepare? Ensure the senior leadership provides the governing body with a risk assessment against the new framework given current school evidence What does your senior leadership think the judgement on the overall effectiveness of the school would be now and why? What grades does the senior leadership think the school would be given for achievement, teaching, behaviour and safety and leadership and management? And why What does the senior leadership consider to be the main risk areas for the school in any inspection?

What should governors do to prepare? Make sure that governors have a pre meeting with the SLT to agree what needs to be got across in what is a relatively short meeting with inspectors A two page crib sheet is useful - covering agreed strengths and areas for development and key evidence of impact and progress made Governors should be able to talk about how they challenge the school as well as how they support the school. They should also be able to give examples. Governors should also be able to talk about how they monitor the work of the school so that they are not reliant on just what they are told by SLT or what SLT provides as evidence

What should governors do to prepare? Governors are able to clearly articulate; the strengths of the school the weaknesses of the school (including teaching and pupil progress) and what the evidence is for improvement in these areas the current key priorities in the school improvement plan –why these are the priorities and what progress has been achieved to date and the evidence for this?

A Good Education for All From September 2012, Ofsted propose that: schools cannot be judged ‘outstanding’ unless their teaching is ‘outstanding’ schools will only be deemed to be providing an acceptable standard of education where they are judged to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ a single judgement of ‘requires improvement’ will replace the current ‘satisfactory’ judgement and ‘notice to improve’ category schools judged as ‘requires improvement’ will be subject to a full re-inspection earlier than is currently the case

A Good Education for All a school can only be judged as ‘requires improvement’ on two consecutive inspections before it is deemed to require ‘special measures’ inspections will be undertaken without notice being provided to the school inspectors should undertake an analysis of anonymised information, provided by the school, of the outcomes of the most recent performance management of all teachers within the school, as part of the evidence for a judgement on Leadership and Management.

A Good Education for All Ofsted will be releasing details this term on how it will all work and the outcomes of the consultation It has been reported that Mr. Gove may have indicated that no notice inspections may not be implemented We will have to wait and see!

Raising Standards in Literacy Moving English forward - Published 16th March 12 - From September, Ofsted will prioritise for inspection, schools with the lowest achievement levels in literacy. It will also reinforce and further embed its present inspection practice of hearing children read.