s1monb Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 Hi I would be interested to hear from any colleagues who have been through an Ofsted Inspection recently about what their role in the inspection was. I have heard mixed stories from the usual working late to make sure everything is in place for the inspectors up to being interviewed by the inspection team. I joined my current school just after their last inspection and we are just about due I imagine, so would like to know what to expect. The school has been through 'mock' Ofsted inspections over the years but I have never been included. We recently lost our Principal who was amazingly clued up on data and would have handled everything himself, but his replacement is not so clued up. Any stories of the good, bad or ugly would be appreciated! Thanks Simon
DataMan Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 Hi Simon, We have been through a subject and full inspection in the last year. Generally once the phone call comes in the Data Manager is busy as staff (teachers/SLT) chase last minute information. I normally have an ofsted pack sitting ready with key informtaion. We have a school dashboard of where we are currently at compared with the last 3 years, then have pupil premium breakdown, the story around attendance, pupil progress class trackers etc. In terms of the inspection itself I have had data slots allocated with the inspection team to go through areas they have identified of interest, either prior to their visit or based on what they have seen. During the last full inspection the lead inspector asked the head what the story was regarding for example Year 8 Maths progress, then during our data slot looked to see if I had the same story just looking to clarify if data is being utilised and shared.
CaterinaAnna Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 All of the above. To be fair, the only times I've actually been interviewed have been when the appropriate member of staff has been unavailable (eg Head of Post 16 long-term absent and person acting in the post had not had sufficient time to get themselves up to speed) - seems that, unlike DataMan's, the inspectors we've had have trusted what the senior/middle leaders have told them. Mind you, that could be because much of the in advance bit is making sure that all levels of management know which of the things they want to say have data to back them, where to find those analyses, and that they're up to date. Not usually a problem unless it's just after or just before a data collection week. It was a much bigger job when there was more notice, because it was accepted that there was time to produce new stuff. There's still quite a bit of producing tables /charts that show the messages that are likely to be key, but it tends to be middle leaders who spend less time with the data that need most support in the run up. Once they've arrived, it's being on standby to answer unexpected questions about a group of pupils or subjects they've decided need to be looked at more carefully. Usually odd, sometimes interesting, but seldom a problem if your systems are flexible enough. Only real issue I've had has been clawing back the extra hours I've worked ...
number34 Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 I have had meetings with inspectors during both of our last two OFSTEDS. I was there to answer specific questions to do with exam analyses in the first instance and 6th form attendance in the second. I would not normally expect to meet them.
mark80 Posted January 7, 2014 Author Posted January 7, 2014 I wouldnt expect to be meeting them one to one but i would make sure you know your current Raiseonline like the back of your hand as this is their tool of choice. From the last inspector i talked to informally he said Value Added, Levels of Progress and Group (SEN, LAC, FSM, Attainment bands) are the areas they will be looking at. Its taking some time but i have been deconstructing our unvalidated 2013 results RAISE to better understand how all the calculations are working, from this started to build in these elements into my data captures that happen 4 times a year. So in theory we should have estimated RAISE figures in terms of VA & Levels of Progress almost instantly. I understand these will be slightly different to he actual results as the coefficients and other constants will change. The inspector also said that projected grades need to be as accurate as possible, so if you are in a situation where your exam results were not great you can at least back that up with the fact you predicted them to be bad. This means that if you are predicted that next year will be xx% the inspectors will feel more confident you can achieve this.
skunk Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 I have been through around ten inspections in my time and been directly involved in four of them, as backup to a senior leader to explain the finer details of why we produce targets as we do, or exactly how our tracking works, or to confirm their figures as accurate. As long as your data systems are robust and everyone knows where your strengths and weaknesses are then they usually won't bother you directly. They are more interested in interventions based on the data and what impact the interventions may have had. In terms of the specific groups they were interested in when we were inspected back in November: 1. Deprived students (Pupil Premium & Children Looked After), including Value Added, Levels Progress and "The Gap". 2. High Achievers 3. Groups and subjects they have identified as weak during their discovery (the school had better know these groups before they ask, and have the evidence of the interventions, impact of the interventions, likely outcomes, etc) 1 & 2 are government areas of interest at present so Ofsted are doing as they are told. An interesting point I have picked up is that Ofsted do not have access to FFT data unless the school chooses to share it with them. If they get to see it they know it is good and if they don't get to see it then they draw the conclusion that the school is hiding something. Ofsted have a tendency to ask for some very random analyses, so be on standby to produce anything they ask for. Beware if, in your last Ofsted report, data was an area of weakness, they like to see improvements where they have identified room for improvement.
ICTLady Posted January 10, 2014 Posted January 10, 2014 [Edited] We have had Ofsted in recently and I would be happy to post some feedback.
s1monb Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Thanks for all of the feedback, it's really interesting to see the mix of experiences that people have had.
mark80 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Posted January 17, 2014 I just hope @ICTLady has survived to tell the tale?
CaterinaAnna Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Seconded. Earth calling ICTLady - you OK?
ICTLady Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Morning all I am here, obviously can't say anything about the outcome of the inspection but here are a few comments. My Ofsted-ready folders were (a) all the analysis of the exam results from summer 2013. (b) similar analysis of our most recent set of progress reports, showing predicted progress We use 4Matrix so we have an overview from that, based on each set of results/predictions, showing overall percentages of 5A*-C, point scores, LOPs, Ebacc attainment etc. We had run the same analysis for each of our sub-groups: for us these are G&T, SEN, Pupil Premium, Girls and Boys (as we had a significant gender gap in our results last year so we need to show that we are looking at this). We also have set up on SIMS a progress marksheet for every class in the school showing which students are G&T, SEN or Pupil Premium (so every class teacher knows these lists). It also has KS2 results, reading age and CAT scores, and for GCSE students we track their progress through Y10 and Y11 against their targets, showing each term's progress marks as green (above), yellow (meets), or red (below). This means that each class teacher has a good set of data to hand on every class they teach. They did specifically want to see LOP analysis in the form of transition matrices - a big thank you to @NormalDistribution for his templates which were worth their weight in gold In terms of my role, I was not spoken to. On the day before the inspection, I printed off timetables for the whole school and extra copies of the exam and progress analysis. During the inspection, I was asked a number of times by SLT to produce specific sets of figures but these were nothing unusual - they needed exact figures on the progress of particular groups to back up conversations they were having with the inspectors.
s1monb Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 Hi Sounds like it went well for you. When you talk about LOP analysis, did they want to see that for all subjects or just English and Maths? Thanks Simon
ICTLady Posted January 20, 2014 Posted January 20, 2014 Hi @s1monb. The LOP data they wanted was specifically English and Maths.
CaterinaAnna Posted January 20, 2014 Posted January 20, 2014 Hurrah! Glad you're still here and smiling. Hope the same is true for the school.
mark80 Posted January 21, 2014 Author Posted January 21, 2014 Thank you ICT Lady for that and thanks again to NormalDistribution for his transition matrix
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