Surviving Ofsted 

News of an impending Ofsted inspection need not strike fear into the heart of your school's community. With the right preparation and information, and a balanced approach, inspection can be a positive tool for development rather than an insurmountable hurdle.

This article aims to show you how to survive the period before, during and after an inspection, and gives useful phone numbers and links to the relevant forms and publications at the end.

Keep on top of current developments and the latest news about inspections by visiting the Ofsted website.

The Framework for Inspecting Schools
Recent changes to the Framework for Inspecting Schools came into effect in September 2003. As Her Majesty's Chief Inspector David Bell explains, 'The new framework for inspection means less inspection for more schools, but no decline in the rigour of inspection. Ofsted will continue to assess quality and standards within schools and colleges while identifying the strengths and weaknesses of provision within the wider education system.'

It is hoped that the new arrangements for inspection have cut bureaucracy to the minimum both in terms of preparation for an inspection and during the inspection process itself. The required inspection forms have been 'pruned' and it is now possible for schools to complete and update them via Ofsted's website.

David Bell is also keen to stress that,

'Ofsted makes no extra demands on individual teachers. Teachers will not be asked for anything special before inspection or be asked to produce lesson plans specifically for the inspection. The pressure of many observations of teachers in primary schools will also be eased as most primary schools will have less inspection than at present.'

The Framework for Inspecting Schools also serves as a useful reminder of the fundamentals of inspection such as the principles behind it, the inspection system and process, the evaluation schedule, and quality assurance. The code of conduct for inspectors seeks to ensure that inspectors uphold the highest of professional standards in their work, and asks that school staff and others involved in the inspection be 'courteous and helpful to inspectors'.

What the inspectors report on
The Evaluation Schedule lists the judgements required of the inspectors and applies to the inspection of all nursery, primary, secondary and special schools, pupil referral units and any other publicly funded provision. Knowing what inspectors will be focusing and reporting on when in your school enables you to prepare mentally for inspection, make explicit the evidence the inspectors will be seeking and prepare pupils for the inspection.

The Evaluation Schedule looks at how effective a school is, and why, by exploring the following questions:

• Effectiveness of the school
  1.  How successful is the school?
  2.  What should the school do to improve?
• Standards achieved by pupils
  3.1 How high are standards achieved in the areas of learning, subjects and courses of the curriculum?
  3.2 How well are pupils' attitudes, values and other personal qualities developed?
• Quality of education provided by the school
  4. How effective are teaching and learning?
  5.  How well does the curriculum meet pupils' needs?
  6.  How well are pupils cared for, guided and supported?
  7.  How well does the school work in partnership with parents, other schools and the community?
• Leadership and management of the school
  8.  How well is the school led and managed?
  9.  How good is the quality of education in areas of learning, subjects and courses?
  10. What is the quality of other specified features?

Notification of inspection: what to do
As soon as you receive notification of an inspection (the notice period will be 6-10 weeks, with inspection being done on a six-year cycle), take a moment to consider the main questions the inspection is designed to answer. These are:

• What sort of school is it?
• What does the school do well?
• How high are the standards?
• How well are the pupils taught?
• How well is the school led and managed?
• How much has the school improved since the last inspection?
• What should the school do to improve further?

Reminding yourself of these on a regular basis will help to ensure that you remain focussed on what the inspectors are doing in your school and open to the notion of promoting what you and your colleagues dp well. Remember that you are a source of evidence as to the success of your school, as much as any paperwork.

While your communications with Ofsted will detail precisely the nature of the inspection, in law, inspections must report on:

• The educational standards of your school
• The quality of the education provided by your school
• The quality of the leadership and management in your school (including whether the financial resources made available to the school are managed efficiently
• The spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of pupils.

It is, perhaps, this last point that is the most difficult for schools to evaluate themselves on. According to School inspection, A teacher's Guide to preparing, surviving and evaluating Ofsted Inspection:

'SMSC development must (and usually does) underpin all education to varying degrees. It must also be capable of engaging pupils on many levels, particularly cognitively, experientially, and emotionally. Yet it can be difficult, when seeking to review exactly how pupils can develop in this way, to ascertain what is meant by spiritual, social, moral and cultural (especially 'spiritual'), and whether or not they can in fact be measured. Personal growth is an enormously complex notion that does not sit happily in any one area of the curriculum. Rather, every aspect of a school's curriculum can take responsibility for SMSC development.'

Preparing for inspection
The weeks leading up to the start of an inspection can be the most challenging of the whole process. Often, the period between notice being given and the first day of the inspection can make or break a teacher's view of inspection. If you have just received notice of an impending inspection, keep these points in mind:

• Excessive anxiety amongst staff may be an indicator to inspectors that that there is an issue to be explored. Keep your staff well-informed during the pre-inspection weeks to eliminate unnecessary fears and concerns. Make sure that someone in your management team is available to deal with staff concerns as soon as they arise.
• Prepare staff beforehand so that all teachers (including NQTs who will not have undergone an inspection before) are aware of the inspection framework and what inspectors will be looking for during the inspection.
• Make sure you have a copy of the relevant Inspection Handbook. These have recently been revised and are available to order from the Ofsted website.
• Ensure that governors are fully briefed as to their responsibilities and the sorts of questions they might be asked.
• Plan to complete forms S1-4 well in advance of inspection and allow the time to do this. Many schools have indicated that S4 is a useful document when reviewing progress in their school over the previous year. This obviates the need for completing the documents cold and just prior to an inspection.
• Aim to ensure that all staff meet the lead inspector as soon as possible. Encourage staff to ask any questions they may have. Ensure that an open dialogue develops with the lead inspector, being clear about the context of the school and the characteristics of the pupil intake.
• Plan where you wish to base the inspection team to minimise disruption to the pupils.
• The vast majority of teachers who contributed their thoughts and ideas to School Inspection: A teacher's guide to preparing, surviving and evaluating Ofsted inspection emphasised that praise and appreciation from their head teacher were key factors in keeping stress levels down in the run-up to inspection.
• Remind pupils that they should behave as they would with any guests in the schools; this is more effective than the well-worn phrase: 'they're here to inspect you as much as us'.
• Give thought as to how the school will handle the summary of the inspection report that is sent out to parents.
• Do not rework documents specially for the inspection. This leads to unnecessary strain on you and your colleagues. Remember that even in the most effective schools, not all policies can be up to date.
• School Inspection: A teacher's guide to preparing, surviving and evaluating school inspection suggests that, 'for many teachers, their professional life draws heavily on...their very character and personality'. If this is the case with you, it could cloud your relationship with inspectors if you feel judged as you the person, rather than you the teacher. Encourage your staff to consider this point too.
• Enter the inspection process positively. Your attitude will set the tone for the whole inspection. If you're over-anxious, your colleagues will be, but if you are positive and constructive, that will catch on instead.

During an inspection
SchoolInspection: A teacher's guide to preparing, surviving and evaluating Ofsted Inspection reminds teachers to hold onto a belief in their abilities throughout the inspection. Maintaining a positive, focussed and professional environment will help you and your staff do this. Here are some tips for achieving this:

• Don't think of any discussions you or your staff have with inspectors as live interviews that can never be revisited. If something occurs to you after the event that should have been discussed, mention it to an inspector. Encourage staff to do this too.
• Be aware of any tensions that can occasionally occur during an inspection and deal with these as they arise rather than leave them until the end of the inspection process.
• Encourage your staff to build a rapport with the inspectors. Good inspections are never done to a school. Rather, they are the result of collaboration and mutual co-operation.
• Inspectors will not necessarily have a view as to the context of the pupils' learning at the beginning of the inspection, so teachers should make it clear, when being observed, how many in the class have special educational needs or are highly achieving pupils, for example. Remind teachers of this regularly.
• Normal timetabling arrangements shouldn't be altered just because an inspection's taking place. Just do what would usually be done at the normal time. That said, you may want to postpone any off-site events if this would make things easier. 
• Keep an eye on the amount of time that each teacher is observed for. Over-observation of individual teachers occasionally happens and should be discussed with the lead inspector.
• Some schools make sure that there is always a governor on hand during an inspection purely for the benefit of staff. They can act as a sounding board or offer help should a problem arise.
• Encourage staff (and yourself) to eat little and often to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
• Talk to staff about their experiences of the week but also focus on other topics of conversation
• Discourage staff from dwelling on a particular outcome.
• Remind staff to pause regularly to take deep breaths which aids physical relaxation.

Dealing with feedback
Here are some techniques for handling, and getting the most out of feedback:

• Be clear about when you and your staff would like to receive feedback.
• Remind staff that there is enjoyment to be had in demonstrating what they know and the skills they have.
• Remember to tell staff to take pen and paper to feedback sessions so that main strengths and areas for development can be recorded for future reference.
• Remember that the inspection feedback is confidential to the school until the report is finally published.
• When hearing feedback, make sure that you and your staff are not displaying any of the classic blocks and barriers such as being preoccupied with the possible negatives and feeling criticised or defensive. The Institute of Personnel and Development suggests that people are either buckets (able to absorb feedback with confidence in their ability to improve), tumblers (can take just three or four pieces of information about their performance) or thimbles (need extremely careful nurturing through the process of feedback). Do you know what you and your staff are? Buckets, tumblers or thimbles?

After an inspection

• Be aware of the impact that inspection may have had on your school. There may be an atmosphere of success or a general feeling of anti-climax. Remember that staff will follow your lead. 
• Ensure that you and your staff are absolutely clear about the implications of each point made in the inspection report — seek clarification if necessary. 
• Consider how the Ofsted action plan drawn up after the inspection will sit with the school's improvement or development plan. 
• Prioritise any professional development needs within your school that have become apparent.
• Aim to identify new habits of work that may need to be adopted as a result of self-scrutiny or the inspection itself.
• Discourage all murmurings of blame. Offer support, encouragement and motivation. 
• Think about how you will handle any publicity following the inspection. Your school's standing within the community may change, as may its relationship with the LEA. 
• Recognise that your entire team will have worked hard to ensure that your school was seen in the best possible light. Celebrate that in some way, even if it's a word of thanks and a glass of wine in the staffroom.
• Be aware that while all members of your school's community may be working hard to get back to 'normal' after an inspection, you may well be altering what 'normal' means as a result of the feedback received.
• Reinstate any treats/trips/events that may have been postponed because of the inspection.
• Ploughing ahead immediately with changes in policy and procedure will almost certainly be counter-productive. That said, when the time is right to strive forwards, be prepared to push the boundaries that previously felt right for your school, but only focus on identified priorities for the time being. 
• Take a moment or two to jot down what worked for you and your staff during this inspection. Think of it as advice for the future.
• Lasting success in your school is never the result of the work of one person — it will always be down to effective teamwork.

Above all else, it is worth remembering that inspection in itself cannot improve a school. It is teachers, backed by strong leadership who are the agents of change and success.

Further information
For any enquiries about school inspection call the school inspection helpline: 020 7421 6662, email: schoolinspection@ofsted.gov.uk

Ofsted publications can be ordered from the Ofsted Publications Centre: 07002 637833, email: freepublications@ofsted.gov.uk

School inspection, A teacher's guide to preparing, surviving and evaluating Ofsted inspection by Elizabeth Holmes is available via: the books page . 

Notes

1. Inspection Principles, from Inspecting Schools, 2003, page 3

• Inspection acts in the interests of children, young people and adult learners and, where relevant, their parents, to encourage high-quality provision that meets diverse needs and promotes equality
• Inspection is evaluative and diagnostic, assessing quality and compliance, and providing a clear basis for improvement
• The purpose of inspection and the procedures to be used are communicated clearly to those involved
• Inspection invites and takes account of any self-evaluation by those inspected
• Inspection informs those responsible for taking decisions about provision
• Inspection is carried out by those who have sufficient and relevant professional expertise and training
• Evidence is recorded and is of sufficient range and quality to secure and justify judgements
• Judgements are based on systematic evaluation requirements and criteria, are reached corporately where more than one inspector is involved, and reflect a common understanding in Ofsted about quality
• Effectiveness is central to judging the quality of provision and processes
• Inspection includes clear and helpful oral feedback and leads to written reporting that evaluates performance and quality, and identifies strengths and areas for improvement
• The work of all inspectors reflects Ofsted's stated Values and its code of conduct
• Quality assurance is built into all inspection activities to ensure that these principles are met and inspection is improved

2. The code of conduct for inspectors, from Inspecting Schools, 2003, page 44
Inspectors are expected to:

• Evaluate objectively, be impartial and have no previous connection with the school which could undermine their objectivity
• Report honestly and fairly, ensuring that judgements are accurate and reliable
• Carry out their work with integrity, treating all those they meet with courtesy and sensitivity
• Do all they can to minimise the stress on those involved in the inspection, and act with their best interests and well-being as priorities
• Maintain purposeful and productive dialogue with those being inspected, and communicate judgements clearly and frankly
• Respect the confidentiality of information, particularly about individuals and their work.

3. Inspection forms
These are all available to download from the Ofsted website.

• Form S1 includes basic information about the school, pre-entered where possible. This form is used by Ofsted to prepare a specification for the inspection.
• Form S2 includes more detailed information about the school and its pupils.
• Form S3 is completed by the governing body and includes its assessment of how far statutory arrangements and policies are in place. This avoids the need for the school to provide all such policies before the inspection.
• Form S4 provides the school with an opportunity to summarise its own perceptions of its quality and standards, gained through monitoring and self-evaluation.

Originally published on Teachernet