The dreaded phone call of Ofsted Inspection has been received.
What do you need to know? Here are some tips and important things to remember.
- Lesson planning
Inspectors will want to see that school policies are being adhered to across the board.
Other than that, there is no requirement to complete individual lesson plans to hand to inspectors should they walk into your classroom.
They will be able to tell whether your lesson is appropriately planned and if it fits well into a sequence of lessons.
Focus on making your teaching excellent in practice, not the planning on a piece of a paper!
- Be yourself
Easier said than done, of course - but don't try and attempt something that you wouldn't normally do just because Ofsted inspection.
Do what comes naturally.
- Grading of lessons
Ofsted inspection is not to grade individual lessons - nor do they expect schools to use the Ofsted evaluation schedule to grade teachers' lessons.
- Self-evaluation
In meetings with classroom teachers and middle leaders, Ofsted inspection will focus that teachers are reflective of their own practice and that any self-evaluation judgements match that of the school.
- Statutory arrangements
Ofsted inspection will report on whether a school complies with the expectations around statutory provision.
This includes those that relate to the workforce.
Failure to comply with certain statutory requirements, such as safeguarding can have a seriously adverse effect on the overall Ofsted grade that a school is given following an inspection.
- Evidence of work
Ofsted inspection is not to see photographic evidence of work that pupils have previously completed.
Similarly, there is no expectation for schools to keep exercise books or other examples of student work from previous years.
- Progress
Inspectors will take a range of evidence into account when considering the progress made by pupils.
This will include previously published data on performance, internal records and student work in exercise books and folders.
There is no expectation that schools provide an extensive selection of pupil work during Ofsted inspection.
- Pupil Premium
Detailed evidential records are not expected, but inspectors will want to know what the school as a whole (and individual teachers) are doing for Pupil Premium students.
- Independent learning
Ofsted inspection will look for evidence that pupils can take responsibility for their own learning and that they show independence.
However, activities in the classroom that are contrived to show independent learning should be avoided.
Inspectors will be able to tell from observations, discussions with pupils, and scrutiny of work whether this is taking place.
- Be prepared
Finally, you want to avoid a mad scramble on the afternoon following the ‘Ofsted inspection call’ getting things ready – or staying up into the early hours to catch up on marking, or completing a policy document that should have been done months ago.
If you always imagine that an Ofsted visit is just days away, you will always be prepared!
