Ofsted | Schools Week

Set up ‘Teach First-style’ scheme for school mental health specialists, says report

A scheme modelled on Teach First should be set up in schools to train mental health specialists to work with young people, research has suggested. The training would involve learning how to manage problems that children face at school such as “bullying, exam stress and low moods”. Proposed in a new joint report from school […]

Dorset school told to improve or have funding withdrawn

A Dorset multi academy trust has been warned that one of its schools will have its funding agreement terminated if it does not improve on a damning Ofsted inspection. Lisa Mannall, the regional schools commissioner for the south-west, has written to the Twynham Learning multi-academy trust, after The Grange School in Christchurch was rated ‘inadequate’ with […]

Ofsted attempts parental charm offensive

Ofsted wants to make its inspection reports more accessible to parents because they are its “most important education stakeholders”, according to a senior official. Amy Finch, its head of strategic development, said this week that when Ofsted’s new framework comes into effect from September 2019, it will improve parental communication by using clearer language in […]

Troubled UCAT trust to shed four schools after finances warning

Four schools run by the troubled University of Chester Academies Trust (UCAT) will be rebrokered to new sponsors following the intervention of a government schools commissioner. Christine Quinn, the regional schools commissioner for the West Midlands, has “agreed with the trust to initially rebroker four schools” in order to “release capacity”, according to a parliamentary written […]

Amanda Spielman’s Ofsted moves away from ‘male-dominated’ culture

Ofsted’s next inspection framework will promote a more “collaborative” approach to leadership, in a move away from the “male-dominated” culture of the watchdog’s past, a senior inspector has said. According to Gill Jones, Ofsted’s deputy director for early education, Amanda Spielman has sought to steer the organisation’s approach to rating school leadership away from the legacy […]

Catholic academy trust tackled weaknesses ‘at a brisk pace’

Ofsted inspectors have praised improvements at the Romero Catholic Multi Academy Company after visiting all eight of its schools. Seven primary schools and one secondary run by the Coventry academy trust were visited in March as part of a focused inspection. Inspectors said the trust had tackled previously identified weaknesses “at a brisk pace”, and commended […]

Safeguarding, fire safety and segregation: DfE releases 27 new private school warning notices

The government has published the latest batch of warning notices issued to underperforming private schools. Among other transgressions, it found two schools where boys and girls were treated differently enough to affect their personal development, as well as failure to comply with fire safety regulations, and a room used by a special school to calm […]

Has Ofsted given up on school case studies?

Ofsted’s case studies have not always had their intended consequences. As Sean Harford said at the recent ‘Radical ideas to transform Ofsted’ conference at the UCL Institute for Education: “When Ofsted tries to nudge something, it often becomes a shove.” A famous example is triple marking. When the inspectorate published the case study of a […]

RNIB chief executive resigns over ‘serious incidents’ at special school in Coventry

The chief executive of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has resigned over safeguarding failings at one of the charity’s special schools. Sally Harvey’s decision to step down was announced today, shortly after the Charity Commission launched an inquiry into “serious concerns” about oversight and management at the RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning, a special […]