Who inspects the schools?
Why are schools inspected?
How are schools inspected?
Who is affected by the inspection of schools?
What do the inspectors want to find?
Basic information on School Inspections
Some of the questions that you may ask about school inspections................
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Who inspects the schools? |
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Why are schools inspected? |
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How are schools inspected? |
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Who is affected by the inspection of schools? |
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What do the inspectors want to find? |
The answers, found on the website: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/about/index.htm
Responsible for school inspections is OFSTED, this stands for Office for Standards in Education.
Background of OFSTED:
Founded in September 1992, after the introduction of the Education (Schools) Act 1992, the Office for Standards in Education is a non ministerial government department. It is headed by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector (HMCI), who is then supported by a professional staff, Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools (HMI). There is also a full administrtive staff.
They hold the motto:
"Improvement through Inspection"
Purpose of OFSTED:
The aims of the department are to "improve the standards of achievement and quality of education in schools, teacher training, the youth service and adult education through regular inspection, public reporting and informed advice."
OFSTED is best known for school inspections. The department has the responsibility of informing the Secretay of State for Education and Employment about
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The quality of education in schools in England |
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Educational standards achieved by pupils in the schools in England |
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Whether the financial resources in these schools are managed efficiently |
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Spiritual, moral,social, cultural development of children in these schools. |
In order to fulfil these requirements, OFSTED organises their system so that each of the 24,000 schools in England, are inspected every 6 years.
OFSTED lays the framework for these inspections then sends out Registered Inspectors (RgIs) to carry them out. The RgIs are not employees of OFSTED, they are usually people from private firms or local authorities who are contracted to OFSTED.
Functions of OFSTED
Of the many functions OFSTED has, these are some of the main points cited on the website:
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Advise the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on a variety of issues concerning their work. |
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Tender and contract inspections. |
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Take care of the administrative side of recruitment and training. |
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Monitor performance of inspectors. |
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The receipt, collation and analysis of reports. |
They also keep in regular contact with schools, local governments, governors, professional educational authorities and other government departments, notably the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE).
Source: Ofsted improving schools, London: HMSO......
What is meant by improvement?
With respect to school inspections, the four main areas concerning improvement are;
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raising standards |
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enhancing quality |
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increasing efficiency |
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achieving greater success in promoting pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; in a word, the ethos of the school. |
These are the four central themes in the document followed by RgIs "Framework for the Inspection of Schools"
Who is affected by the inspection of schools?
Although some believe the disruption to lessons is a negative aspect of Ofsted inspections, for one week every six years it is not a very big sacrifice as ultimately everyone benefits from a successful school inspection.
Pupils benefit, first and foremost, in their daily experience of being educated.
Teachers gain motivation and job satisfaction.
Parents and governors acquire increased confidence in their school and the gratifying sense of being associated with a worthwhile enterprise.
Senior managers can assess the improvements in standards and quality, knowing that the new plans for the establishment will be based on solid foundations of the already achieved improvements.
How do schools improve through inspection?
There is not a specific plan that schools must follow in order to improve after inspection. Each one is individual in every way, which means that each one will need to follow their own plan to improve. The scale of improvement will be different in every school too, there are certain general points however, which will start the improvement in any school.
Most importantly is careful, rational planning. The four stages to follow are:
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Where is the school now? |
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What changes do we need to make? |
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How shall we manage these changes over time? |
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How shall we know whether our management of change has been successful? |
By implementing these questions through the various stages of inspection, the school will be able to identify what needs doing and monitor the progress of change.
Also vital for improvement in schools is a committed staff of teachers, heads, governors, pupils and parents.
How is a school inspected?
For exact details on how a school is inspected, go to the Handbook for inspecting secondary schools, at:
http://www.official-documents.co.uk/document/ofsted/inspect/secondary/sec-p2.htm#5
This site is an inspectors guide to inspecting a school. It gives an RgI the information needed to prepare for, carry out and evaluate an inspection. It is really detailed about the process of inspection from the inspectors point of view, and it also explains the accepted conduct of the inspectors before and throughout the inspection.
What do the inspectors want to find?
As the Ofsted website is quite big, I e-mailed them, asking if there was any easier way of finding general outcomes of inspections as opposed to the individual reports. They advised me to try: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/public/index.htm/
This contains the basic framework to the reports in 2000, it is worth a look if details regarding inspection findings are needed.