Ofsted | Schools Week

Dame Christine Ryan appointed chair of Ofsted

The former chief inspector of the Independent Schools Inspectorate has been appointed as chair of Ofsted. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, announced today that Dame Christine Ryan will replace Professor Julius Weinberg in the role from August 1. Ryan was chief inspector and chief executive of the ISI, which is responsible for inspecting over 1,000 […]

No joint SEND inspections in the autumn, but Ofsted and CQC will still ‘visit’ areas

Joint area SEND inspections will not resume in the autumn term, Ofsted has announced. But the watchdog and the Care Quality Commission will conduct “a series of visits” to council areas to understand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and support local areas to “respond effectively”. The inspectorate will also produce a new area SEND […]

Ofsted visits: ‘Serious issues’ may lead to ‘immediate action’

“Serious issues” identified during lighter-touch Ofsted visits in the autumn could result in “immediate action”, the watchdog has said. The inspectorate promised its new programme of visits, which will start in September and target mostly ‘inadequate’ schools, will be collaborative, and not about “passing judgment”. A letter setting out the outcome of discussions over back-to-school […]

Ofsted: New ‘school visits’ will allow ‘appropriate challenge without passing judgment’

Ofsted has said its new school “visits” will allow inspectors to provide “appropriate challenge” to school leaders without “passing judgement”. It was confirmed last week that proper Ofsted inspections will not start again until January next year at the earliest. But Ofsted will start to “visit” schools after the summer holidays to “reassure parents, ministers […]

Criticism of home-learning ‘unhelpful’, says Spielman

Ofsted’s chief inspector has said it is “profoundly disappointing” to see commentators trying to “polarise” the back-to-school debate by “portraying teachers in a negative light”. Teachers’ safety concerns about returning to the classroom have prompted criticism from national newspaper columnists and some politicians. Writing for Schools Week, Amanda Spielman said it was “very clear to […]

Ofsted halts parent survey asking when inspections should restart

Ofsted had to close a survey that asked parents for their views on whether inspections should restart as soon as pupils go back to school, or wait for as long as up to a year. Parents were also quizzed on what impact they believe restarting inspections would have on their confidence in sending children back […]

School loses appeal to gag Ofsted from publishing critical report

A school has lost an appeal to gag Ofsted from publishing a critical report after claiming falling from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’ in three years “cannot be justified on any rational basis”. The secondary school, inspected in October last year, was granted an anonymity order in January to prevent publication of the report. However, this was […]

Ofsted raps first school over Baker clause

A school has been rapped by Ofsted for flouting the Baker clause, as the inspectorate begins to police the controversial rule. Leicestershire-based King Edward VII Science and Sport College was rated ‘inadequate’ in a report published on Wednesday following an inspection in January. While Ofsted has suspended publishing reports during the coronavirus outbreak, it does […]

What does an inspectorate do when it can’t inspect?

Six weeks after lockdown and the sudden end of inspections, and five weeks after Ofsted mooted a mass redeployment of staff, JL Dutaut finds out what the inspectors have been up to It’s now six weeks since “business as usual” came to an abrupt end for Ofsted. Yet just last week, chief inspector Amanda Spielman […]