The chief schools inspector, Christine Gilbert, declared school standards had “stalled” today as she set out measures to focus the inspection system on failing schools in a new consultation document for inspections.
“We’re not seeing enough movement there. The gap between the haves and have nots is not moving quickly enough so we want to do additional things to drive that forward. We will be taking into account areas such as key stage 2 and GCSE results. It will not be the whole inspection report but exam results are important and give a picture of a particular school. We will take them into account in our judgments.”
Under the proposals, which will come into effect from September 2009, “satisfactory” or “inadequate” schools will be inspected within three years. “Good” or “outstanding” schools will be inspected within six years, with a “health check” report in between.
The report says: “Although many of these schools go on to become good and outstanding, too many fall back and become inadequate. The key challenges, therefore, are to improve the weakest, and to prevent those that are improving from slipping back.”
Ofsted will also pilot “no notice” inspections over the coming months, to see if they are feasible. Schools are currently given one or two days’ notice, which parents complain is not long enough for them to pass on their concerns.
Parents will be able to trigger an Ofsted inspection of their child’s school if they feel teachers are underperforming. Ofsted will consider doing national and local surveys of parents and pupils to gauge how schools are doing. It will also produce clearer criteria for each of the four inspection grades – outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate – a move welcomed by school leaders and will report more explicitly on whether the school provides good value for money.
Full details can be read on the OFSTED website: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/
