New arrangements for school inspections due next year – a consultation
Ofsted is reviewing its maintained school inspection arrangements. We have just launched the proposals on these for public consultation - A Focus on Improvement: Proposals for maintained school inspections from September 2009. The document lays out a case for increasing the impact of our inspections and targeting them where they’ll make the most difference.
The proposals were developed after discussions with nearly 1,000 headteachers, other professionals, parents and pupils’ focus groups. They will be piloted from the summer term this year and implemented in September 2009. As the three-month consultation is underway, now’s the time to feedback your comments before it closes on 11 August. So, what are some of the main proposals under consideration?
We believe inspections need to be tailored more to a school’s needs. For instance, schools judged satisfactory or inadequate in their last inspection will be inspected within three years. Satisfactory schools that are not improving will receive a one-day monitoring visit between their regular inspections, generally within 12 to 18 months. Schools judged good or outstanding will be inspected less frequently, but within six years. In the intervening years a ‘health check’ report will be published which will not involve an inspection visit. However, if areas of concern are flagged up we’ll consider whether we need to inspect. Inadequate schools will receive monitoring visits as they do now.
We propose to involve senior managers in schools more consistently in the inspection process. Some inspections will include a specific focus, for instance, looked-after children. We’ll explore whether ‘no notice’ inspections are feasible. We will also take more account of the views of parents when deciding when a school needs inspecting.
Pilot inspections will run alongside the consultation and will be evaluated. Following this we will firm up our proposals and draw up guidance on how inspections are conducted. Then inspectors will be trained in the new arrangements ready for implementation in September 2009.
We encourage everyone to submit their comments on the consultation online at the following link:
http://85.234.135.179/index.php?sid=32633
