What are the key changes to the inspection framework that school staff should be most aware of? The main changes to inspection fall into four central areas:
Frequency: the frequency of inspections will now be linked to how well a school is doing. The better a school does, the less frequently it will be visited. Schools judged 'good or 'outstanding will be inspected again once within five years. Those with a 'satisfactory rating will have their next inspection after three years, although a proportion of these schools will also receive monitoring visits. Schools judged 'inadequate will receive regular no-notice monitoring visits and be re-inspected after less than three years.
Notice: in nearly all cases, schools will get one or two days notice of an inspection.
More time in classrooms: inspectors will spend more time observing lessons around double the amount of time will now be spent in the classroom. The length of observations will vary: some will last for nearly a whole lesson or session, while others may experience much shorter observations, for example when an inspector observes a narrow aspect of activity across a large number of classrooms. The focus here might be on differentiation, looked-after children, girls or a particular minority ethnic group.
Staff questionnaire: another new feature will be the option of completing a staff questionnaire, responses to which will be voluntary and anonymous and will contribute to inspectors judgements about how the school is doing. The headteacher and chair of governors will decide whether such a questionnaire is used. If in your school the head and chair of governors decide not to have one, staff will still be free to talk to inspectors in private to get across any comments and concerns they may have as well as positive feedback.
What might most usefully feature in a schools
For more detailed information about the new framework have a look at the OFSTED site:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/
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