Readers of a certain age will have quickly completed the title of this piece. For the more youthful among you, we refer you here. We take no responsibility if you find yourself singing it for the rest of the day.
You may not immediately think of Bananarama when you are considering Ofsted, but bear with us.
Whenever there is a new Ofsted framework, there is an understandable rush to identify hard and fast rules to inform decision-making. As inspection reports are published, recurring themes emerge and quickly become shared as guidance for others. The current framework stresses that there is no preferred approach when it comes to pedagogy, assessment or any other key area of practice; however, the rumour mill is never slow in perpetuating the theories that emerge from the woodwork.
So, what do we know? We are all well aware that the current framework places curriculum front and centre. We know for certain that when you receive an Ofsted visit the team will be reviewing your curriculum provision and that your subject leaders will take the leading roles. However there are also some key areas in which it ain’t what you do (it’s the way that you do it). While it’s not for us to speak for Ofsted, we can at least reflect on a few commonly-held beliefs:
Ofsted disapproves of a 2-year key stage 3
Many schools have revised their curriculum structure in recent years on the basis of this concern. And it is true that, if you have a two-year key stage 3, Ofsted will be asking about your rationale. However, the concern is not the structure itself, but around how the extra time for KS4 is being used. If it’s just to give students more time to study the same number of subjects as before, it’s highly likely to be queried. However, if you have an extended key stage 4 which is allowing for greater depth and breadth in terms of content or subjects studied, you can confidently make a positive case for what you’re doing. Perhaps your three year key stage four has supported greater take-up of certain subjects or is allowing for learning beyond exam specs. For example, is it providing time for more pupils take part in the expressive arts up to the age of 16 than would otherwise have been the case? Or perhaps you are using a different curriculum structure in year 9 which supports an ambitious vision for learning. If you can show how your structure offers a really good deal for your pupils and have evidence of its impact, you will have a strong case to argue..
Ofsted doesn’t like different pathways for pupils with SEND
Ofsted will be looking to see whether your curriculum offer is ambitious for all pupils. If a particular pathway means that in practice a group of pupils have significantly limited curriculum choices, or that assumptions are being made about their ability very early on, then inspectors could well flag this as a concern. On the other hand, establishing different pathways can be a very effective way of meeting the needs of different pupils – the key questions are whether every pathway is sufficiently ambitious and whether pupils have the opportunity to move between different pathways throughout their time at school.
Ofsted will look negatively at early entry
Early entry has prompted much debate over a number of years. Again, there is not a problem with early entry in itself. The question will always be around how it is supporting your pupils – what is being gained by early entry? If it is done to enable students to acquire a larger number of qualifications, is depth being sacrificed for breadth? Could students have gained a higher grade given more time? This could link with a three year key stage 4 which is offering both breadth and depth.
In short, approach generalisations with caution. If your focus is always on achieving the best possible experience for your young people and decisions are made based on what you know to be right for your community, you will be able to demonstrate that the way you are doing things gets results. SSAT believes that schools shouldn’t do anything just for Ofsted. And Ofsted says it believes exactly the same thing.
Is your secondary school ready for Ofsted?
This webinar will give senior leaders of mainstream secondary schools the opportunity to hear from Ofsted and from schools that have undergone recent successful inspections to help ensure that they are ready for an inspection by doing the right things on a daily basis.
