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In the village where we live, the primary school sits at the top of a hill. Alongside the main footpath runs an unofficial walkway, worn by small feet over many years. It marks out a more adventurous route along the top of a muddy bank, passing through bushes and behind a large oak tree.

In the past week, I have been looking at the regional variations in the 2023-24 inspection data with some interest and so I wanted to share them with you. Hopefully you will find them fascinating too.

Thirty eager faces, hands shooting up in the sky as soon as you ask a question, soon makes way for smirking furtive glances around the classroom, rocking back on two legs of the chair, and volunteering a reluctant answer only when asked directly! So how do we maintain the eagerness, the love of learning, and the hunger to answer questions and still look cool?

Implementation matters. Even the greatest idea remains only an idea until it is successfully implemented. Effective implementation is the cornerstone of all meaningful and sustainable change in education, whether your focus is classroom, curriculum or culture.

Within this learning space, there is a hugely diverse group of young people from all different walks of life. You have around thirty pupils for a lesson and you have to teach a complex concept.

The independent learning review for Ofsted conducted by Dame Christine Gilbert, commissioned by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) and the Chair of Ofsted in April 2024, examines Ofsted’s practices and accountability in light of the tragic suicide of Ruth Perry in January 2023.

My previous blog queried whether the data about ‘need to improve’ comments from inspection reports since January might be pointing towards an ‘Oliver effect’.

In May 2023 I was asked if I was interested in being an EFA lead for a new Embedding Formative Assessment programme (EFA), starting in September of the next school year. About to begin my eighteenth year as a teacher of art and design technology, it is fair to say it was time for a shake-up.

As mentioned in a previous blog on attendance, we have been tracking every ‘need to improve’ comment written by inspection teams during their visits to schools and colleges in 2023/24. At the time of writing, there were almost 4,000 such comments.

As we begin a new term, our hearts go out to the families affected by the tragic loss of young lives in Southport this summer. We can only imagine the profound pain this has caused each family. Our thoughts and support are with them and their wider communities, as they come together in this immense grief.