How to make friends with Ofsted

Instead of dreading the arrival of Ofsted, how about treating it as two days of free consultancy, suggests Dave King...?

The phone rings at 12 o’clock midday on Tuesday and instant panic sets in. It’s an inspector letting you know that you will receive a visit from a team over the next two days. The introductory conversation with the lead inspector, which covers procedures and protocols, takes about twenty minutes and then the adrenaline rush begins. Frantic planning, last minute marking, notifying parents, preparing data files…

STOP.

Is this all really necessary? One school I inspected recently received a no-notice visit – their phone lines were down and no contact was made by email. They were a little taken aback, but because they had prepared over time, the inspectors were able to see a typical day. The teachers hadn’t been up half the night preparing lessons and marking books, and they didn’t need to be, because that’s what they do well all the time.

Inspectors review a school’s progress and teaching over time. They’re supposed to assess typicality of the learning they see in lessons by looking at books, talking to children and scrutinising data.

So – how best to ‘make friends’ with your inspector (to whom I will be referring as ‘he’ and ‘him’ throughout, for convenience merely)?

Let’s start in the classroom – have a chair ready for him, preferably an adult’s. Be clear about the number of children actually present and those on roll – a fraction on the board will do. Leave a lesson plan on the chair along with relevant contextual information about the class and up to date assessment information that clearly displays two things: current attainment levels and progress made over time (preferably a key stage). A single side of A4 as a summary is enough. In addition, highlight any children who might be on the special needs list or in receipt of the pupil premium. Another thing that helps the inspector is having books out to look at from other subjects. He may ask you or a teaching assistant a question for clarification, however do not waste learning time by trying to engage your visitor in discussion. He is there to observe how the children are learning; your paperwork on the adult chair should cover anything you want him to know about.

During the 25 minutes or so he is with you, the inspector will observe how well the children approach their learning and assess how well structured it is to enable them to make appropriate progress and be challenged in their thinking. He will also talk with some of the children (“Tell me what you are learning about; what are your targets/levels? How does your teacher mark your work or explain how to improve? What’s behaviour normally like? Is this lesson typical?”)

Don’t try anything because you think you ‘ought’ to be doing it – Ofsted does not expect to see a particular teaching style and anyway, children are quick to say to an inspector ‘Miss doesn’t normally do it like this’! Deal with behaviour as you normally would.

Any teacher observed for 20 minutes or longer is entitled to feedback. If this is you, ask good questions about how to improve and remember it is a professional discussion (no crying please!). You may also be asked about child protection, performance management, whether you’ve changed anything about your teaching and what difference it has made. If you are an NQT you will also be asked about induction, support through CPD and your ITE route.

If you are a co-ordinator or middle manager in the school you are likely to have a 30- minute meeting with the inspector. This will cover your views on children’s progress in the area you are co-ordinating, how you know, actions taken and led by you, and the impact of those actions on children’s performance at school.

Finally enjoy the experience as much as possible! Inspectors are human too – they have families, and deal with day-to-day issues involving children, pets and domestic crises. They will have visited large numbers of schools in their work, so if you get the chance, try to find out about good practice they may have seen. The reason inspectors do the job is because they want to see schools improve so all children get the best possible deal. It may be described by some as going over to the dark side – but an inspection should be the best two days of free consultancy a school receives.