Slidepack from the webinar on EIF inspections in primary schools, held on 28 March 2022

1. EIF inspections in primary schools

2. Purpose of this slidepack
 This slidepack comes from the first in a series of webinars we’re
holding for schools in 2022. For details of others, see:
https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/21/three-free-
ofsted-webinars-for-school-leaders-and-staff-register-to-join/
 We want you to take information about Ofsted directly from us
rather than relying on third-party and often expensive sources.
 This slidepack clarifies our inspection approach and aims to
reassure you about how inspectors focus on subjects in primary
or small schools.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 2

3. Chris Russell HMI
National Director,
education
Gill Jones HMI
Deputy Director,
Schools and Early
Education
Kirsty Godfrey HMI
Specialist Advisor
The webinar was given by:

4. Key resources
www.gov.uk/ofsted
www.youtube.com/ofstednews
www.slideshare.net/ofstednews
 Blogs and press releases
 Contact us

5. Where you can find our information
 The only guidance and materials you need for an inspection is
the guidance and materials that Ofsted produce. We publish a
variety of content to support you.
 https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted
 our inspection handbooks which outline our policies and processes on
school inspections
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-
framework).
 other guidance documents intended for schools and our own inspectors
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 5

6. Where you can find our information
 Other resources to support school leaders and teachers:
 Ofsted’s YouTube channel
(https://www.youtube.com/user/Ofstednews)
 SlideShare (https://www.slideshare.net/Ofstednews)
 Education inspection blog for schools and further education and skills
(https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/)
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 6

7. The education inspection framework judgements
Leadership and
management
Personal
development
Early
Years
Quality of education
Behaviour and attitudes
Overall
effectiveness

8. The EIF judgements
 The EIF is a framework to get to the heart of quality of education in ALL schools.
 Inspectors make judgements in four key areas:
 Quality of education
 Behaviour and attitudes
 Personal development
 Leadership and management
 In coming to each of the key judgements in primary or infant schools, inspectors take
account of the provision in the early years. They make a separate judgement about
the quality of the early years.
 All these judgements come together to reach the judgement of overall effectiveness.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 8

9. Ofsted – phased return to inspection Slide 9
We look at how a school’s curriculum helps its
pupils build a rich, deep body of knowledge:
what pupils know, remember and can do.
The EIF looks at how pupils achieve the
results that they do and whether they have
the knowledge they need to succeed.
In this slidepack, we will look particularly at
how we conduct deep dives and our
expectations around subject leadership

10. Deep dives in primary schools
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 10

11. EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 11
Collecting, connecting and evaluating evidence
Judgement
area
Top-level view
Bringing it
together
Collect and
connect

12. Collecting, connecting and evaluating
evidence: explainer
 The slide above illustrates our inspection process.
 For each judgement we make we collect, connect and evaluate
evidence. We do this for all judgement areas, but for the ‘quality of
education’ judgement, we call the collect and connect step of this a
‘deep dive’.
 This starts with our inspectors establishing a top-level view of the
curriculum. This is the top level view for all pupils in the school, from
the youngest to the oldest.
 Through our deep dives we collect and connect evidence of how a
school’s curriculum delivers a high-quality education for all its pupils.
 We then bring this together with further evidence to come to our
judgement.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 12

13. Collecting, connecting and evaluating
evidence: explainer
 Inspectors do not have a preferred curriculum model.
 Inspectors build the top-level view through their pre-inspection
analysis and in the educationally focused conversation they
have with school leaders on the day before the inspection
begins.
 From this conversation, the lead inspector and the headteacher
agree in which subjects the team will carry out deep dives.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 13

14. Deep dives focus on what matters most for the
quality of each pupil’s education: whether pupils
are learning the knowledge they need to
achieve the goals of their education.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 14

15. Deep dives: explainer
 In a primary school, depending on its size, inspectors will typically carry
out between three and five deep dives.
 Deep dives are not subject inspections. We look at a selection of
subjects as a means of getting to the heart of the quality of education.
 The focus of each deep dive is to find out whether pupils are learning the
knowledge they need to achieve the goals of their education and exploring
how pupils gain more knowledge as they travel through the school, from
their start in early years to when they leave in Year 6.
 By looking at a selection of subjects through deep dives, inspectors
identify the common strengths and any areas that need working on. They
will test further to see if any weaknesses are significant or widespread, or
are relatively minor.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 15

16. Connecting back to the big picture
3. Carry out the other deep
dive activities in whatever order
you need, jointly with leaders
where possible.
2+2 Lesson visits
Work scrutiny
Pupils
Teachers
Connect what you see to
what leaders expect you to
see.
Senior leaders
1.Begin with the top-
level conversation
about the intended
whole curriculum offer.
Curriculum discussions
2. Discuss the curriculum
content and sequencing
within subject/s with
relevant leaders
EIF inspections in primary schools

17. Connecting back to the big picture:
explainer
 The slide above illustrates the deep dive process. The purple arrows represent
the inspector’s thinking process.
 Deep dives start with a conversation focused on education with senior leaders on
the day before the inspection begins.
 The lead inspector will ask questions about the structure of the school and the
organisation of the curriculum within these conversations
 As early as possible during the inspection, we’ll meet with relevant leaders to
discuss content and sequencing within the deep dive subjects. These meetings
help us have a sense of the ‘big picture’.
 Inspectors understand if the subject isn’t an area of specialism for the leader. We
also have no view about who might ‘lead’ a subject. We know that in primary
schools people wear many hats. We want to meet with whoever is best placed to
talk to us about what’s in the curriculum in that subject.
 What matters most is what you want pupils to learn and why.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 17

18. Connecting back to the big picture:
explainer, continued
 Throughout the first day of the inspection, we will carry out other deep dive
activities such as lesson visits, discussions with teachers, talking to pupils and
work scrutiny.
 These lesson visits during in a deep dive are not to judge teaching, they
are to look at curriculum implementation.
 We do not look at teaching separately from the curriculum. Teaching is a means
of delivering the curriculum and that is what we want to look at – the curriculum
in action.
 Inspectors will invite a school leader to visit lessons with them. This can be
whoever the school wishes, a curriculum leader or the headteacher, for example.
 The inspector will think back to the top-level view, connecting what they are
finding back to what the headteacher said in the educationally focused
conversation. The inspector is asking themselves, ‘How does this stack up with
leaders'’ view of the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum?’
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 18

19. In practice:
 We will seek to understand the leadership structure in the
school.
 We will be flexible and pragmatic with the meetings we need
to hold.
 We will always work with the school to plan the inspection and
ensure staff are not overburdened.
 We understand small schools will not necessarily have the
same capacity as larger schools.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 19

20. In the early years
The area of
learning
Quality of
interactions
Deliberate
intentions
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 20

21. In the early years
 Inspectors will visit the early years as part of their deep dives to
understand how pupils gain the knowledge they need from the start
of their time in the school. But this does not mean they will expect
to see national curriculum subjects being taught in the early years.
 Inspectors will want to find out how learning in the early years
prepares pupils for the next stage in Year 1 and beyond.
 The three aspects that inspectors consider in the early years are:
 The area of learning
 Quality of interactions
 Deliberate intentions
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 21

22. The three early years aspects: explainer
The area of learning
 In the early years, inspectors focus on the statutory curriculum as set out in the
educational programmes for the seven areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation
Stage (EYFS). It is important not to confuse the curriculum with the Early Learning Goals,
as these are simply assessment criteria and do not cover the full statutory requirements.
Quality of interactions
 When inspectors can see a relevant area of learning, they will use this as part of their
deep dive. But we do not assume this will be happening every time we visit the early
years. Where this isn’t the case, we will consider the quality of interactions between
adults and children.
 We know that young children learn best when they have high quality interactions from
adults and there is a focus on language and communication. We’ll look at the way that
adults develop children’s vocabulary and comprehension, generally seeing how adults
help children to learn and remember important knowledge and support them to use more
words.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 22

23. The three early years aspects: explainer
continued
Deliberate intentions
 When visiting the early years inspectors will want to understand how
teachers ensure that children make progress in all seven areas of learning.
 But inspectors will not be looking for files full of assessment evidence on
individual children, or photographs or post-it notes that record children’s
progress. We have been clear since the launch of the EIF in September
2019 that we will not look at school’s internal data, assessment
and tracking when on inspection.
 Instead, inspectors will do this by finding out about the activities,
environments and routines that are in place and how they implement the
curriculum. They will find out from teachers what children need to know
now and what they need to know next and seeing how well activities,
environments and routines help children to practice and reinforce their
learning.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 23

24. Subject leadership in primary
schools

25. It often is not possible or realistic to develop detailed
expertise in multiple subject areas. The curriculum
just needs to be ambitious and coherent.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 25

26. In practice:
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 26
 We are not expecting leaders to be subject specialists.
 We expect leaders to have an overview of the whole subject
from EY to Year 6.
 We will look at the support staff are given to develop
knowledge of their subject.
 We understand subject leadership will often be part of a
teacher’s wider role.
 We are happy to talk to whoever is best placed to talk about
the subject.

27. Early reading
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 27

28. Getting reading right early
If pupils cannot read, they will not be able to
access the curriculum, and will be
disadvantaged for life.
Children who lag behind in reading during
the early years will typically continue to do so
for the rest of their schooling.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 28

29. Getting reading right early: more detail
 We know how important it is that schools teach reading well from the start. Reading is the
gateway to learning in other subjects. We know that reading opens doors – enjoyment,
academic success and lifelong opportunity.
 Pupils who struggle with phonics can quickly fall behind their peers. They read less than others
and so do not accumulate knowledge and vocabulary from their reading. Pupils who cannot
read accurately and speedily are likely to struggle in every subject that requires them to read
or write. This is because fluency in word reading, spelling and handwriting are essential in
allowing pupils to focus on understanding what they read or composing a piece of writing.
 Research has found that being able to read accurately by age 6 has a strong correlation with
future academic success. And those who fall behind in the early years typically do so for the
rest of their education.
 We know there are too many pupils, and probably many more as a result of the pandemic,
who are still not reading age-appropriate books fluently by the time they reach key stage 2.
For them, and for pupils of any age who are still in the early stages of learning to
read, learning to read must therefore be an essential priority.
 That it is why we must all focus on making sure that all pupils learn to read as soon as they
should.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 29

30. In practice:
 We will conduct a deep dive in early reading on all inspections
with primary aged pupils.
 We will use the early reading evaluation criteria to check how
well all pupils are taught to read.
 We will focus on the lowest 20%. We will check how quickly
these pupils are catching up. We will listen to a sample of these
pupils read.
 We will evaluate how well the school’s chosen phonics
programme is implemented and the impact it has on pupils –
there is no Ofsted requirement to use a ‘validated’ programme.
EIF inspections in primary schools Slide 30

31. Thank you

32. Ofsted on the web and on
social media
www.gov.uk/ofsted
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk
www.linkedin.com/company/ofsted
www.youtube.com/ofstednews
www.slideshare.net/ofstednews
www.twitter.com/ofstednews