Presentazione di Lee Nothern del HMI Ostfed del governo britannico relativa al suo intervento al convegno internazionale "Migliorare la scuola" (14-15 Maggio 2015, Napoli), organizzato dall'Indire.

1. ‘Supporting school
improvement
through inspection’
International conference: ‘Improve the school’
Naples, Italy - 14 May 2015
Lee Northern HMI
Ofsted, England

2. Office for Standards in Education,
Children's Services and Skills
(Ofsted)
 Founded in 1992
 Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department
 Headed by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI), Sir
Michael Wilshaw
 Independent of the Department for Education (DfE)
 Ofsted reports ‘without fear or favour’
 HMCI reports directly to a Parliamentary Select
Committee, made up of Members of Parliament from
different political parties, and must ‘lay before
Parliament’ an Annual Report

3. Office for Standards in Education,
Children's Services and Skills
(Ofsted)
Parliament
Education Select
Committee
Government
Head of State: the Queen
Department
for Education
Department for
Business, Industry &
Skills
Non-executive Board
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
Funding
Department
for Justice

4.  Inspected compliance with
new laws on working ages,
hours and conditions
 Inspected provision of factory
schools for children
 Did not produce published
reports on individual factories
 Did not cover ALL types of
factory where children
worked
 Did NOT focus on the
outcomes for the children
The first inspections, 1833

5.  Introduced to ensure
accountability over
public funds
 Professional inspectors
 Published report to
Parliament
 Commented on value
Inspection of schools, from
1840

6. The purpose of
school inspection
The inspection of a school provides an independent external evaluation of
its effectiveness and a diagnosis of what it should do to improve.
Ofsted’s inspections of schools perform three essential functions. They:
provide parents with an expert and independent assessment of how
well a school is performing, and help those who are choosing a school
provide information about the work of schools, whether minimum
standards are being met, and provides confidence in the use of
public money, as well as indicating where improvements are needed
promote the improvement of individual schools and the
education system as a whole.
(The Education and Inspections Act, 2006)

7. ‘The effective monitoring and evaluation of schools is
central to the continuous improvement of student
learning: Schools need feedback on their
performance to help them identify how to improve
their practices; and schools should be accountable
for their performance.’
OECD strongly supports external
reviews of school performance
‘Synergies for better learning’
(2013)

8. Inspection reports

9. Reports are set out to show how
schools should seek to improve

10. Inspection reports:
recommendations

11. Ofsted’s 2012/13 Annual Report identified
some key barriers to raising standards:
weak leadership and ineffective school
governance
mediocre teaching and too much
variation in quality
pockets of weak educational provision in
parts of the country
significant underachievement of children
from low-income families, particularly
white children.
Ofsted’s ‘Annual Report’

12. Where schools decline, or improve
too slowly, weak leadership of
teaching is often the biggest factor
In teaching, it was the lack of leadership that mattered
more than the quality of teaching
Analysis of reasons affecting 114 schools that declined markedly

13. Thematic and survey reports

14. The pattern of poor achievement
for the more able:
Too little challenge in lessons
The core reason is that
PLANNING is not good
enough
Tasks are too easy Low expectations of
what will be done
Assessment systems do not
identify pupils’ potential or
their prior learning
Teachers’ subject
knowledge is weak
Compounded by –
lack of checking on
progress in lessons,
poor guidance in
marking
Compounded by –
poor time
management
Compounded by –
lack of application
ACROSS subjects
Tasks are same for
all
Compounded by –
lack of chance to
develop writing and
speaking

15. Guidance & inspection criteria for inspectors (January 2015):
How we inspect
Publicly
available
on our
website

16. How does inspection support
school improvement?
Inspection:
raises expectations by setting standards
provides challenge and impetus where improvement is
needed
clearly identifies strengths and weaknesses
recommends specific priorities for improvement for the school
and, when appropriate, checks on and promotes subsequent
progress
promotes rigour in the way that schools evaluate their own
performance
monitors the progress and performance of weaker schools,
and challenges and supports them to improve.

17. Impact of school
inspections

18. Add presentation title to master slide | 19
School inspection framework
(Sept 2014)
‘Inspection has the
strongest impact on
school improvement
when the school
understands the
evidence and findings
that have led to the
judgements, and what it
needs to do to improve.’

19. Investigation report:
School leaders’ views on the
impact of inspection (March 2015)
22,800 responses to Ofsted’s
post-inspection survey.
(2009-2014)
98% of school leaders said
‘The inspection identified
clear recommendations
for improvement’
Schools are surveyed immediately after inspection: Response rate: typically ~ 75%
98% of school leaders said ‘I
will use the inspection
recommendations to move
the school forward’

20. Add presentation title to master slide | 21
Inspection does not have to
deliver new insight in order to
support improvement
A new headteacher explained how the inspection gave
them confidence in securing improvement:
‘The inspection was very helpful to confirm that
the impact and actions put in place were the
correct path. Inspectors gave confidence to
the leadership team that we were taking effective
action and validated our judgements, evidence
and improvement plans.’

21. Changes made are dominated by driving the
improvement of teaching and learning:

22. http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/oct/22/school-ofsted-stockholm-syndrome
‘Are heads too caught
up in what Ofsted
wants? If it’s all about
striving to please the
inspectors, schools will
never truly improve’
Side effects?

23. ‘Looking at, not
looking for’
October 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-inspections-clarification-for-schools
Ofsted does not:
•specify how planning should be set out
•expect to see any specific frequency,
type or volume of marking - these are
for the school to decide
•favour any particular teaching style.
School leaders and teachers should
decide for themselves how best to
teach.
•grade the quality of teaching for
individual lessons
•require teachers to undertake
additional work specifically for the
inspection.

24. Schools are inspected:
•If they are new
•If they were previously grade 3 or grade 4
•If risk assessment suggests their performance is falling
Grade 1:
outstanding
•No further inspection
scheduled (exempt)
•Likely to be asked to
support weaker schools
nationally or to take
them on as new
academies
•May become a
‘teaching school’
Grade 2: good
•Inspected every 5
years
•Expected to provide
some support to
weaker local schools
Grade 3: requires
improvement
•Invited to seminar
•Visited by inspector within
a few weeks to discuss
plans & actions
•Inspector will discuss
package of possible
support measures
•Will be re-inspected after
two years
•If found to be Grade 3
three times, then this is
evidence that leadership is
inadequate
Grade 4:
inadequate
•Can be placed into
SPECIAL MEASURES
•Ofsted will visit each term
and report on progress until
school is found to be at
least grade 3
•Local authority can act to
change the governors
•Governors can act to
change the headteacher
•Government encourages
these schools to partner
with outstanding schools or
to close and re-open as
academies.
2012: ‘Every child deserves
a GOOD school.’
Government strategy is for weaker schools to
be supported by stronger schools on their
improvement.
20% 60% 17% 3%

25. What happens in grade 4
(‘Special Measures’)
schools?
OFSTED:
•One inspector is allocated to the school
throughout the next stages
•This inspector leads a monitoring visit every 3
months, focusing on the school’s weaknesses
•These visits are likely to include much greater dialogue
about improvement
•The school will be re-inspected after no more than
two years.
OFSTED:
•One inspector is allocated to the school
throughout the next stages
•This inspector leads a monitoring visit every 3
months, focusing on the school’s weaknesses
•These visits are likely to include much greater dialogue
about improvement
•The school will be re-inspected after no more than
two years.

26. Schools are inspected:
•If they are new
•If they were previously grade 3 or grade 4
•If risk assessment suggests their performance is falling
Grade 1:
outstanding
•No further inspection
scheduled (exempt)
•Likely to be asked to
support weaker schools
nationally or to take
them on as new
academies
•May become a
‘teaching school’
Grade 2: good
•Inspected every 5
years
•Expected to provide
some support to
weaker local schools
Grade 3: requires
improvement
•Invited to seminar
•Visited by inspector within
a few weeks to discuss
plans & actions
•Inspector will discuss
package of possible
support measures
•Will be re-inspected after
two years
•If found to be Grade 3
three times, then this is
evidence that leadership is
inadequate
Grade 4:
inadequate
•Can be placed into
SPECIAL MEASURES
•Ofsted will visit each term
and report on progress until
school is found to be at
least grade 3
•Local authority can act to
change the governors
•Governors can act to
change the headteacher
•Government encourages
these schools to partner
with outstanding schools or
to close and re-open as
academies.
2012: ‘Every child deserves
a GOOD school.’
Government strategy is for weaker schools to
be supported by stronger schools on their
improvement.
20% 60% 17% 3%

27. What about the grade 3
schools? Changes were made
from September 2012:
• The ‘satisfactory’
grading was
replaced with
‘Requires
Improvement’
• For any school in this
group, the report
explained clearly why
it was not yet good

28. What happens to schools that ‘require
improvement’?
School judged to REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT
School is invited to a REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT SEMINAR
An HMI is allocated to the school and makes an initial MONITORING VISIT
that focuses on improvement planning
The HMI may arrange a series of support activities or a further monitoring
visits
The HMI may suggest an early re-inspection
REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT schools will always be re-inspected within two
years
A school that is still not good on its THIRD inspection will be considered
INADEQUATE.

29. Add presentation title to master slide | 30
What does this look like in detail?
‘Through the lens of inspection’
workshops for senior leaders
Surgeries for governors and
headteachers
English and maths conferences
across local authorities
Local seminars and workshops eg
FSM, more-able
Seminars and training for middle
leaders
Good practice working groups, using
groups of schools with a strong track
record to support other schools
Targeting some schools for
early re-inspection
Focus on RI schools in
meetings with local authority
staff
peer to peer review projects
survey activity eg reading,
mathematics
Further HMI monitoring visits to
schools – may not lead to a letter

30. ….and inspections show that a greater
proportion of RI schools are improving
than satisfactory schools did in the past

31. Add presentation title to master slide | 32
Changes in schools judged to
require improvement
In responses to our ‘impact’ survey, school leaders of RI schools
told us what they had worked on as a result of the inspection.
Most of these related to improving the management or quality
of aspects of teaching and learning.
Common actions included:
 developing clearer strategies for marking and assessment
 improving professional development and training programmes
 introducing tighter processes for monitoring and evaluation
 improving approaches to managing behaviour
 making better use of data for tracking and evaluation.

32. Thank you.
Any questions?

33. Over time, a greater understanding and
acceptance of the RI ‘message’…
Question: Overall, do you agree that being judged to ‘require improvement’
rather than to be ‘satisfactory’ has strengthened the focus of leaders and
governors on becoming a good school?
April 2013 Feb 2014

34. HMI visits to ‘requires improvement’
schools are seen increasingly positively:
Question: Do you agree or disagree that the visit helped you to
identify weaknesses in the school’s planning that might otherwise
have restricted the school’s ability to improve?
April 2013 March 2014

35. Provider surveys have been
generally positive….
Data from April 2013

36. Most of the activities in ‘RI’ work are seen as
useful by headteachers
Frequency of activity (as reported by schools) - volume Usefulness of activity - % useful

37. What do reports tell us? Schools that ‘got to good’ ensured
effective governance, had robust systems and good
leadership – especially of teaching
Thirty RI schools that ‘got to good’ : How successfully they had resolved
their previous areas for improvement – issues of leadership, management
and governance

38. Whereas ‘Stuck’ RI schools lack the
capability to resolve key weaknesses:
Nineteen RI schools that stayed at RI, still with G3 for leadership: how
successfully they resolved previous areas for improvement at re-inspection.
RI evaluation – spring 2014

39. Our 2012 Annual Report
highlighted weaknesses at local
authority level: