New era for Ofsted inspection
Today Bradley Simmons, Ofsted’s Director for the South West, confirmed some of the biggest changes to education inspection since the inception of the inspectorate more than two decades ago.
Speaking to more than 200 headteachers, college principals and early years professionals at the City Centre Marriott, Bradley praised education leaders in transforming education standards and set out how changes to Ofsted inspection will support further improvement in the system.
The event is one of eight conferences around England designed to share the details of the new inspection model with the sector.
From September, Ofsted will inspect good schools and further education and skills providers once every three years under a new short inspection model. They will check that leaders have identified key areas of concern and that they have the capacity to address them.
These short inspections will typically last one day and will be led by one or two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI), with bigger teams for further education colleges. Where HMI feel more evidence is necessary to confirm the judgement, or to establish whether the school or provider may have improved or declined, the visit will be converted to a full inspection and continue, most commonly, for an additional day.
Describing how the new short inspections will work, Bradley said:
“I want to pay tribute to education leaders in the South West. But this is not about being nice to an important audience. Rather, it is my recognition of the way inspiring leaders have helped to make a positive difference to the education of children and young people in the region.
“Good leaders have the power to transform the life chances of children and young people, and give them the start in life which they deserve.
“I am proud of what Ofsted and schools are achieving in the region. Good leadership is bringing about improvements in education. So that is why, in just a few months’ time, we will focus above all else on leadership when we change the way we inspect schools, early years settings and further education colleges and skills providers.
“We have increased the number of serving practitioners from good or better institutions in our workforce. In just a few months’ time, seven out of ten Ofsted Inspectors will be serving practitioners.
“Our inspections of good schools and providers will be more frequent, and take place approximately every three years. When we go in to inspect our starting point will be that the school or provider is good. I am hopeful this will help to create an environment in which there can be honest discussion amongst professionals.”
Bradley also announced plans to recognise ‘exceptional leaders’, outlining how, from September, when inspectors identify an early years leader, headteacher or college principal who has played a key role in turning around other institutions, Ofsted will send a letter to them acknowledging their leadership as exceptional. A copy of this letter will go to the Secretary of State and Ofsted’s Annual Report will also feature those leaders who have been recognised in this way.
As well as short inspections for good schools and further education and skills providers, the new school year will see a number of other changes. A common framework for inspection is being introduced encompassing registered early years settings, maintained schools, academies, non-association independent schools and further education and skills providers, so that common judgements and terminology can be used across all these sectors. A young person, parent or employer should be able to pick up any of Ofsted’s inspection reports and be able to understand them quickly because the format and judgements are the same.
Ofsted will also make its complaints process more accountable. Each Ofsted region, including of course the South West, will set up a ‘scrutiny committee’ made up of HMI and practitioners not involved in carrying out inspections for Ofsted. They will assess and rule on the internal reviews of complaints about inspection.
The new school year will bring significant changes to the way Ofsted contracts with, trains and manages inspectors for schools and further education and skills providers. From September, Ofsted Inspectors, directly contracted by the inspectorate, will undertake inspections. Seven out of 10 of these inspectors will be serving practitioners from good and outstanding schools and colleges, with all of their training, quality assurance and development directly overseen by HMI.
Even higher quality and greater consistency will be Ofsted’s watchwords.
