Ofsted publishes consultation on 2019 framework
Ofsted has this week launched a 12-week consultation on its 2019 framework, publishing a full range of documentation, including a very early draft of the inspection handbook, to support review, debate and feedback. Five key areas of the proposals are:
Increased curriculum focus
Shift from scrutiny of pupil data to more discussion of curriculum structure, coherence and sequencing. Ofsted has trailed this for some time, including in HMCI Amanda Spielman’s speech at the Schools North East annual Summit in October.
Continued importance of assessment
Published pupil performance data will continue to figure strongly in future inspections under “Curriculum Impact”. It is unclear, however, how much weighting the inspectorate will give to this factor in forming an overall judgement.
Pause on full implementation
Following concerns around the timetable for implementation Ofsted has inserted a significant caveat on the new curriculum criteria to ensure ‘inspectors will evaluate ‘intent’ favourably’. However, the language surrounding this is vague and open to interpretation.
No-notice inspections
Ofsted has proposed that the lead inspector will arrive at the school within hours of notifying the school of inspection but has termed this “on-site preparation” rather than the beginning of an inspection.
The scope of activities covered on this first half-day is minimal. However, school leaders are likely to be sceptical of claims that they aren’t being inspected during this time.
Long short inspections
Section 8 inspections of good schools would double in length to two days, the same length as full inspections, to allow inspectors to cover more ground within an expanded framework. The original intention of short inspections, as a check with conversion to full inspection when inspectors identify problems, appears to have been discarded.
Schools North East view:
We welcome the publication of this documentation and Ofsted’s commitment to a full 12-week consultation.
The move towards a greater focus on curriculum is encouraging – this is what makes a difference to the education of pupils, not an obsessive focus on data and predicting pupil outcomes. It is unclear, however, how this sits alongside the continued importance of evaluation and assessment and the relative weightings of these factors in forming an overall judgement. Without greater clarity, judgements could depend too heavily on the interpretation of individual inspectors.
Ofsted argues the new framework will “make it easier to recognise and reward good work done by schools in areas of high disadvantage…” We very much welcome this commitment, though of course the devil will be in the detail. Currently, there is significant evidence that Ofsted judgements lean against schools with high proportions of white, disadvantaged pupils.
The consultation runs until 5 April 2019. Schools North East will be holding consultation events with school leaders and submitting a response on behalf of schools.