Ofsted


Ofsted – the inside track


We are now two months into life under the new Section 5 inspection arrangements. Here, an Ofsted inspector and practising primary headteacher – writing anonymously – looks at the key changes that schools must be aware of under the latest inspection regime


2012, signifi cant amendments and changes to the January framework”, as well as referring to the “two million children who are in schools that do not provide a good standard of education”. Inspection requirements have changed and as school leaders we must


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do our utmost to prepare as thoroughly as possible. Here, I explain the main changes to the inspection process and outline how I think this will impact on us as headteachers. This is a summary. I would recommend that all headteachers download The School Inspection Handbook and The Framework for School Inspection from the Ofsted website and become as familiar with them as you can.


Notice period Having trialled “no-notice” inspections, Ofsted made the decision to compromise slightly and still give a short period of notice. From September 2012, schools have been receiving notification of their inspection the afternoon before. The school receives a phone call at around midday notifying them of the imminent inspection. This call will be the responsibility of the inspector leading the inspection


and the nature of the call is to establish organisational arrangements. We are told that it should not be used to probe the school’s self-evaluation, it should merely focus on practical issues. However, inspectors may invite the school to share a summary of its self-evaluation via the inspection offi cer; headteachers can offer to do this if the inspector does not request it. At the inspection training, we were advised that this should be a


“succinct summary”. Rightly or wrongly, when my school is inspected I intend providing the lead inspector with four sides of A4, one side on each of the four areas of inspection focus – achievement, teaching, behaviour and leadership. Inspectors will generally telephone between noon and 2pm the day


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ngland’s chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw addressed all Ofsted inspectors during our recent training via video presentation. He spoke about “tougher requirements on schools from September


before. Be warned, if for some reason the school does not answer the phone, the inspection will most probably become no-notice!


Deferring inspections Ofsted has a clear Deferral Policy that outlines what is and is not good reason for an inspection to be postponed. For example, three quarters of the pupils need to be off-site before a deferral would be permitted. The headteacher not being present is not a valid reason for an inspection to be delayed. If a school thinks it has good reason for a deferral, it must make this clear and the fi nal decision will be taken by Ofsted HQ – not by the lead inspector.


Briefi ng report A signifi cant change that I am sad about is that there will no longer be a PIB – Pre-Inspection Briefi ng report. This means that the school will no longer get an early steer on the main initial focuses for the inspection. The lead inspector will provide a document called “joining instructions” for each of the inspectors in the team. While this will cover administrative and organisational details, I think this will also be used to outline possible, emerging inspection trails, or at the very least some conclusions from the analysis of Raise Online (RoL), previous inspection reports, Parent View responses, etc. This will not be shared with the school.


The school website All headteachers should take note that there is now an expectation that the inspectors look closely at the school website prior to every inspection. When I inspect, I have routinely done this anyway as I think the website is an interesting window into a school. Heads should give some thought as to what information is included on their website and should consider what fi rst impression it gives. Revised regulations came into force on September 1 that set out new online requirements. Schools must now publish online:


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