ofsted – DAISI EDUCATION

How to use your KS2 SATs results to improve school outcomes

20th March 202428th March 2024 By mattwo Comment Closed

Did you know the full breakdown of your KS2 SATs results is available every year? The KS2 SATs give a validated indication of each of your students strengths and weaknesses and the results are made available every year by the DfE – broken down to performance in each individual question via analyse school performance. These are standardised assessments – marked independently – and so give a great overview of your school curriculum and how successfully it guided your Year 6 to achieve their potential. And yet, so many schools simply do not use this resource even though it is free!! But this is data from the past... We agree but by looking back at how your full Year 6 cohort performed, you may be able to see gaps that surely suggest more about how they were taught than it was the same error across all 30 students. By digging deeper into the results, you may be able to create A focus on...

Ofsted Inspection Judgements and IDACI

15th January 20205th November 2021 By mattwo7 Comments

On 14 January 2020 Ofsted released data regarding its latest judgements as of 31 December 2019. Now that 4 months have passed since the introduction of the new Ofsted Inspection Framework, there are sufficient schools to do a meaningful analysis of trends under this new framework. There is a correlation between deprivation and attainment but is there one between deprivation and Ofsted's judgements, and has it changed from previous years? This article will use the IDACI measure as a measurement of deprivation and consider Ofsted's Full Inspections only. We have considered those inspections which resulted in an Overall Effectiveness judgement of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, for Primary and Secondary schools. More details are at the bottom of this article. Overall Effectiveness Firstly, for these 619 schools, what is Ofsted's Overall Effectiveness judgement? The full details are in the table below: In headline terms, for primary schools, the chances of getting an Outstanding/Good judgement is 60%, whereas for secondary schools it is 45%. There is...

Has Ofsted really gone off School Data?

8th November 20195th April 2023 By mattwo3 Comments

The new Ofsted framework states that inspections will not examine any internal school data. But, in practice, what does this mean for schools? What have staff said? Feedback from Staff who have gone through the new framework stated that conversations were not data-centred but did assume you had a good working knowledge of the external data for your school. Data was discussed as an informer to the team’s approach, not as the sword of Damocles it has been. Context was investigated in thorough detail, giving us a chance to tell our story. DAN MORROW - CEO, Woodland Academies Trust However, when you read on, you see that the external data does inform what the deep dives look to see... Instead, the deep dives commenced with immediate observations of staff through learning walks (all accompanied by phase/subject leads) and through hearing children read: the year one children who had not reached GLD, the year twos who had not secured the phonics-screening check, and the...

Ofsted Curriculum: Intent and Implementation

17th July 20195th April 2023 By mattwoNo Comments

The new Ofsted Inspection Framework speaks a lot about Curriculum. Whilst the new directed focus has been welcomed, there is a lot of misunderstanding about what this means in practice. Schools are buying in help from outside sources against Ofsted Advice and Ofsted are constantly claiming there is no "Ofsted curriculum". So what will inspectors be looking for in your school curriculum from September 2019 onwards? What do they mean by a good or outstanding "quality of education"? In this article, we hope to help answer these questions by looking at Amanda Spielman's recent speech, the results of the Ofsted research project and the Ofsted School inspection Handbook. Amanda Spielman In a speech in 2019 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Amanda Spielman was discussing the Ofsted research into Curriculum and what this means moving forward. The quality of education judgement does consider how well pupils are doing in national assessments and qualifications. But this should be the reflection of what children have...

Ofsted’s concerns regarding Curriculum Design

26th June 20195th April 2023 By mattwo2 Comments

In our previous article, we had a look at Ofsted indicators regarding strong/weak Curriculum Design. In this article, we'll have a look at some of Ofsted's concerns. Curriculum Design What is curriculum? Amanda Spielman, Chief Inspector of Ofsted, has said: The curriculum really is the most important thing to think about as educators. As I said earlier, it’s the ‘what’. The very essence of what we want children to learn. It’s how we prepare them, as best we can, for what they might face next. And to leave children unprepared is, frankly, a dereliction of duty, I’m sure you’d agree. ... Sequencing does have a part to play here. ... So a degree of signposting, of showing children the way, is needed. It’s not enough to simply put everything out there and hope that something sticks.This isn’t about having some beautiful tick list of what a child should do, and when. If a child is having difficulty with something, it’s about stepping in...

Ofsted’s assessment of Curriculum

26th June 20195th April 2023 By mattwo4 Comments

In previous articles, we took a look at what Ofsted's inspections under the new Inspection Framework will look like from September 2019, and how they may assess Work Scrutinies and Lesson Visits. In this article, we will look at how Ofsted may assess Curriculum design, based on the results of the research project that took place to help create the new Framework. Assessment of Curriculum The 25 indicators used in the research model will no doubt be narrowed down by the first inspections in September 2019. They revolved around: Intent Rationale, Ambition, Concepts, Implementation Subject leadership, Subject knowledge, Equitable delivery, Planning the progression model, Breadth and depth, and Assessment. Of the 25 quality indicators, Ofsted's research has found that some of them were either more highly correlated with each other in models or were considered by Inspectors are more essential. These are: Intent There is a clear and coherent rationale for the curriculum design. The curriculum is at least as ambitious as the standards set by the national curriculum/external qualifications. Curriculum principles include the requirements of centrally prescribed aims Implementation Subject...

Ofsted Deep Dive

26th June 20195th April 2023 By mattwo7 Comments

So what is a Deep Dive? During an inspection, inspectors are not going to concentrate on the ambitions or intentions of senior leaders, but rather "let's see that in action together". The Deep Dives are principally to gather evidence in relation to "quality of education", and the lesson visits can also gather evidence in relation to "behaviour and attitudes". They will have a series of deep dives on particular subjects: For secondary schools, they will sample four to six subjects. For primary schools, they will sample three to five subjects. It will always include reading, it will usually include maths, and there will also be one or more foundation subjects, including one that is taught during the inspection. In small schools, this may be adapted as appropriate. Evidence Each deep dive will look at the following, usually jointly with school and curriculum leaders, and will try to connect these different pieces of evidence: Senior Leaders Evaluating intent for the curriculum including their understanding of its implementation and impact. Curriculum...

Ofsted Inspections – Outstanding schools – Work in books

25th June 20195th April 2023 By mattwoNo Comments

This series of articles examines Ofsted Inspectors' comments, as published in their Inspection Reports, in relation to "Outstanding" schools. In this article, we will have a look at work in pupils' books. Work in Books In the 2018 Ofsted School inspection handbook, which was the current one at the time of these inspections, Ofsted said that (my emphasis added): 188. Inspectors will gather evidence about the progress of current pupils through: • observations in lessons • discussions with pupils about their understanding of things they have been learning about • scrutiny of pupils’ acquisition of knowledge, understanding and skills over time as shown in their work, including that in their books • the school’s own information, taking account of the quality and rigour of the assessment on which it is based. However, in the draft 2019 handbook, Ofsted are proposing to essentially remove the last bullet point. They say: 178. While they will consider the school’s use of assessment (see paras...

Ofsted Inspections – Outstanding Schools – Most Able pupils

18th June 20195th April 2023 By mattwoNo Comments

In this series of articles, we are looking at Ofsted inspectors' comments on schools which they have judged to be outstanding. In this article, we'll have a look at their comments regarding the "most able" pupils (typically pupils which a high Prior Attainment). The attainment and progress of most able pupils It is not surprising that in these schools the most able pupils are working above age-related expectations. However, it seems that these pupils exceed even the high attainment shown nationally for high prior attainers: Teachers also ensure that the most able are regularly challenged to reach and exceed high targets. The most able pupils made outstanding progress in reading, writing and mathematics.The most able pupils in the school attain particularly well compared with similar pupils nationally. It should be noted that, under the KS2 Progress calculation methodology, there is a lower cap on how much progress can be measured for high prior attainers compared to others. For example, a Level 3 student...

Ofsted inspections – Outstanding schools – Early years provision

11th June 20195th April 2023 By mattwoNo Comments

In this series of articles, we are looking at Ofsted inspector's comments regarding Outstanding schools. In this article, we will be looking at their comments in relation to Early Years Provision. Early Years Provision Ofsted comments about the dedication of the staff: Leaders, teachers and teaching assistants in the early years are extremely dedicated to ensuring that children get the best start.Leadership is highly effective, with a strong emphasis on providing care and nurture as well as challenge and ambition.The high quality of phonics teaching contributes to this success. and their ambition for the children: They plan activities which consistently provide the right level of difficulty for all ability groups.Leaders have ensured that the early years curriculum is interesting, engaging, broad and balanced. Children develop curiosity and want to find out more. Most activities have a clear purpose behind them and build upon what the children have previously learned to do. Two schools which were judged "Outstanding" overall were only "Good" for Early Years: However,...