Memorandum submitted by the Association
of Lay Inspectors (ALI)
MAIN POINTS
— ALI welcomes HMCI's prizing the work
of lay inspectors in paragraph 41 of The Future of Inspection.
Lay inspectors have a lively sense of the different, but complementary,
edge they often add to the process. They consider their role as
being of special importance to every school inspected and will,
for that reason, and on behalf of the public, be disquieted if
this were to cease.
— It is unfortunate that Ofsted's outlay
during 2002-03 into the recruitment and training of an additional
200 lay inspectors from 2000 applications received has resulted
in the enrolment finally of fewer than 40.
— It is unfortunate that the advantages
gained over the years by investment in skilling the current independent
inspection force will be largely dissipated under the current
proposals from 2005 onwards.
— It is unfortunate that educational
inclusion, equal opportunities, security and welfare, governors'
opinions, parental views and possibly those of pupils, seem likely
to disappear from direct examination under the new model.
— It is unfortunate that corporate
judgement will disappear in smaller schools to be replaced by
that of one individual alone.
COMMENTARY
1. It is no coincidence that during the
11 years of independent inspection led by Ofsted the skills and
efficiency both of inspectors and of schools have increased considerably.
The task of improving standards has been uppermost. This has involved
much widening of professional appreciation in areas such as educational
inclusion, and in leadership and management. It has also involved
a more focused, rigorous and systematic approach in the application
of techniques and skills.
2. Ofsted's inspection system has led the
way, and followed through, in this ratcheting up of standards,
just as daily work within schools has unequivocally been responsible
for such widely effective implementation. Consistency and refinement,
as well as adequate resourcing, will be key to future educational
improvement.
3. Inspectors have hitherto been in classrooms
observing teaching and learning, the building blocks of progress.
They have had professional dialogue with all practitioners, so
that teachers and departmental leaders can be emboldened. They
have been positioned to judge the effectiveness and consistency
being delivered, enabling each school, and its responsible authorities,
including the government, to have a dispassionate assessment of
overall strengths and weaknesses. They have deliberately taken
into account the views of governors, parents, and pupils, all
having critical stakes in the outcomes. Not least, inspectors
have judged the extent and quality of support, safety, and child
protection.
4. It is therefore unfortunate, to put the
matter at its least, that all these elements of dynamic, insight,
and safeguard, springing from the inspection system, are apparently
to be removed in England after September 2005. The job thereafter
will ordinarily entail little more than a critical monitoring
of standards and plans built upon each school's self-assessment,
within a maximum span of ten man-days. The role itself is essentially
similar to that which LEA advisers might routinely be expected
to perform. Evidence will not be centred round pupils as individuals.
5. Although the concept of more frequent
and lighter inspections may superficially, and in the short term,
be politically and economically attractive, it is no less than
tragic that the very broad skills of classroom-based inspection
are to be shed just at the time when they are delivering most
energy and benefit. Inspection has not been about satisfying inspectors,
as HMCI has thought it necessary to comment, but about driving
up standards, comprehensively. The investment which inspection
teams and contractors currently represent, once lost, will not
be easily regained.
6. Lay inspectors, of course, will wish
to add value into the inspection process in whatever shape emerges.
Their proven flexibility, independence of mind, and experience
beyond education equip them well for the purpose. They will remain
keen to represent the public, and hear the voices of the more
immediate stakeholders in the system, over the whole age range
to 19.
February 2004
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