Memorandum submitted by National Children's
Bureau (NCB)
SUMMARY
NCB recognises Ofsted's role in an equitable system
to present graded judgments on school performance based on common
criteria. NCB supports the prevailing view of school effectiveness
that includes measures to promote pupil well-being and safeguarding.
NCB views the purpose of inspection as contributing
to a school understanding better its strengths and weaknesses
in order to improve its performance across the full range of functions.
Ofsted plays a valuable role in supporting continuous school improvement.
One purpose of its inspection function is to ensure accountability
to Parliament.
In summary, NCB recommends:
— Maintaining
a role for Ofsted in making judgments on all schools whilst
concentrating resources on the schools that are in greatest need.
— A commitment
to inspection that addresses the full range of functions, including
attending to pupil well-being and safeguarding.
— Exercising
caution in allowing exemptions from inspection for high performing
schools but, if this becomes necessary, publishing a definitive
list of "trigger" factors that act as a safeguard against
complacency if the frequency of inspection in such schools is
to be reduced significantly.
— Ensuring
that all schools are subject to clear and transparent evaluation
and monitoring if removed from the cycle of Ofsted inspection,
and that such monitoring includes coverage of safety and well-being.
— Retaining
a single inspectorate to cover the services that support schools
in helping children to learn.
Introduction
NCB is the leading support and development body for
the children and young people's sector in England. We bring together
agencies from the voluntary, statutory and private sectors, across
early years, education, health, public care, youth justice, and
other agencies meeting the needs of children, young people and
families, including play. As such NCB endorses in full the submissions
presented by Play England to the Select Committee.
In the terms of the role and purpose of Ofsted, NCB's
areas of interest include:
— The
purpose of inspection
— The
role for Ofsted in assisting school improvement and impact
— The
advantages of a single inspectorate
1. Purpose of Inspection
1.1 The role of the
inspectorate is to measure the standard of education that our
schools provide for all children according to universal criteria
and report on it to Parliament in the public interest. NCB recognises
that assessing school effectiveness, achieving accountability,
and contributing through assessment to improving effectiveness
are central processes of inspection. Currently that assessment
is based on a universal set of criteria, acting as a comparative
tool through which teachers and parents can analyse school performance.
This presents two fundamental questions - what makes a school
effective and how can an inspection adequately assess that effectiveness?
1.2 Since 2005, Ofsted's
school inspection framework has reflected a widening view of school
effectiveness, placing emphasis on so-called non-academic outcomes
that play an essential role in raising standards of attainment,
increasing attendance and ensuring the well-being of all children
in school. These outcomes include well-being, community cohesion,
equality of opportunity and play. These are the outcomes that
enable children to more effectively access their education and,
consequently, to learn better.
1.3 Recommendation: Inspection criteria should
continue to take account of non-academic factors,
in particular pupil well-being. NCB rejects the narrowing of
the inspection focus called for in some quarters[28],
seeing this as a reductionist and limiting view of education and
of the process of schooling. Evidence shows that a pupil's well-being
can have a profound effect on their capacity, readiness and willingness
to learn. Schools are the most obvious "universal service"
for children and young people, and provide an important base for
access to a range of services that pupils might need, whether
or not they are provided on-site[29].
School staff generally know their pupils well, can play a role
in identifying issues that may be affecting that child's ability
to learn and engage in their schooling, and can make sure those
services are available to the pupil and, where appropriate, the
pupil's family.
1.4 A Children, Schools
and Families Select Committee report on School Accountability,
published in April 2010, acknowledged the essential role that
pupil well-being should play in inspection and urged Ofsted to
develop enhanced qualitative measures to capture a broader range
of school activity in order to better analyse and attribute pupil
well-being.[30]
NCB endorses the proposals put forward
by the Select Committee to maintain the importance of well-being
as a factor in inspection and urges the implementation of the
recommendation to develop better means of assessing pupil well-being.
1.5 This focus on
purely academic outcomes is also the justification behind proposals
to stop altogether the inspection of high performing schools.[31]
It is true that Ofsted can do more to encourage schools to be
creative and produce evidence of self-evaluation, and that better
performing schools should be allowed greater freedom to be innovative.
However, NCB is not persuaded that this should be realised in
a removal of these schools from the system of accountability.
Ofsted should be permitted to adopt a suitably hands-off approach
with schools that are performing well, whilst still retaining
a clear and transparent monitoring role.
1.6 The proposed exemption
for high performing schools presents three areas of concern for
NCB:
a. The potential loss of accountability for non-academic
factors if removed as inspection categories.
b. The removal entirely from Ofsted's accountability
framework
c. An inadequate safety net to trigger inspection
if purely based on academic outcomes.
1.7 Recommendation: Outstanding schools should
be inspected with reduced frequency but not be exempt entirely
from inspection. NCB recognises and agrees with the conclusions
from the Select Committee report discussed in paragraph 1.4 regarding
the frequency of inspection and allocation of resources. The report
concluded that the frequency of inspection should be in recognition
of a school's current level of performance. Proposals to exempt
outstanding schools ignore the continued need for accountability,
even in outstanding schools, and centre their proposals purely
on academic outcomes.[32]
1.8 NCB applauds the efforts of schools across
the country to improve standards and gain outstanding status during
inspections under difficult and challenging circumstances. However,
NCB also recognises that school performance is not static and
that accountability must stretch to a wide range of factors that
takes into consideration pupil well-being, safety and community
cohesion. An exemption from all inspection limits this accountability.
Even more concerning, however, is the thinktank proposal that
the trigger for inspection in a previously outstanding school
would simply be linked to "performance data indicating a
drop in standards."[33]
1.9 Recommendation: A comprehensive list of trigger
factors must be in place in the event of exemption for outstanding
schools. If these proposals were carried forward, it is feasible
that a school that manages to maintain academic standards but
is performing poorly in respect of pupil well-being would remain
uninspected and unaccountable indefinitely. It is also feasible
that the degree to which a drop should occur before inspection
would allow a school's standards to slide significantly before
an inspection would be triggered. If outstanding schools are to
be exempt from inspection until a trigger point is met, NCB proposes
that there should be a range of trigger factors in place including:
a. A drop in academic standards - for example
a drop of more than 5%
b. The loss of a headteacher/member of senior
management team (SMT) since outstanding schools are often dependent
on having outstanding professionals in key posts
c. High staff turnover
d. Complaint lodged by parents - requiring some
changes made to Ofsted's current complaints system where, in some
[undelineated] circumstances, parental complaints can lead to
an inspection being brought forward or, very rarely, an immediate
inspection[34]
In addition, there needs to be ongoing support for
developing self-evaluation processes and light monitoring of those.
1.10 Recommendation: Ofsted should continue
to monitor any independent school inspection consultancy/agency.
Exempt schools may also be given the option
of employing independent consultants as part of a self-evaluation
process. When comparing this proposal to the Independent Schools
Inspectorate (ISI) that currently manages inspections in some
private schools, NCB is concerned about the implications of creating
an unregulated school inspection sector. At present, the ISI is
monitored by Ofsted, providing some level of regulation, guidance
and consistency in the inspection process. If school inspection
consultancies are given free rein to offer their services to schools
outside of any accountability structure this removes any base
level of consistent evaluation. The loss of this comparative tool
would make it impossible for parents to make informed choices
about a school's performance as each school would base its performance
on contrasting sets of criteria. In the context of well-being
or pupil safety, for example, there would be no guarantee that
they were being evaluated correctly, if at all.
2. School improvement and impact
2.1 NCB acknowledges
the role that Ofsted plays in contributing to improving school
effectiveness. In widening the view of what constitutes school
effectiveness, Ofsted has ensured that academic outcomes are placed
in context, with the positive impact of supporting factors such
as well-being recognised. NCB also recognises the contribution
that Ofsted can make in assisting schools to develop effective
self-evaluation processes.
2.2 NCB also acknowledges
that Ofsted does not necessarily have an active role to play in
school improvement and welcomes the opportunity for schools to
explore innovative and creative practices to raise and maintain
standards. NCB supports the Select Committee's conclusions that
schools should take ownership of their own improvement.3
2.3 Recommendation: Ofsted should encourage
schools to be creative and produce evidence of self-evaluation
processes. NCB has outlined in Section
1 its concerns about the removal of Ofsted as a monitoring body
for high performing schools, and reiterates our belief that Ofsted
has a role in contributing to effectiveness in all schools. The
form that contribution takes should vary depending on a school's
level of performance, but all schools should be assisted in developing
internal mechanisms to identify problems and develop solutions.
The goal for any school should be to reach a stage where Ofsted's
role becomes one of light monitoring and support via embedded
self-evaluation processes.
2.4 Recommendation: School improvement should
not be based solely on academic outcomes. In particular, quality
of teaching and learning should be given equal weight to test
results and derivative measures. An essential role that Ofsted
observation performs is to assess the atmosphere and environment
in a school. In Section 1, we raised our concerns regarding a
narrowing view of school effectiveness to focus purely on academic
outcomes. The same is true for Ofsted's role in school improvement,
particularly in schools performing poorly on pupil well-being
or conversely in schools performing well in this area but struggling
to improve their academic results. Narrowing the criteria for
improvement will encourage schools to focus on attaining grades
to the detriment of all other considerations, including the overall
educational experience of their pupils.
3. Single inspectorate
3.1 NCB believes that
the services that support schools in helping children learn should
continue to be monitored by a single inspectorate.
October 2010
28 For example: Fazackerley, A, Wolf, R and Massey,
A (2010) Blocking the Best: obstacles to new, independent state
schools. Policy Exchange. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/pdfs/BLOCKING_THE_BEST-HDS_Web.pdf Back
29
Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children's Services (C4EO)
(2009) Schools and communities research review 1: narrowing
the gap in educational achievement and improving emotional resilience
for children and young people with additional needs. http://www.c4eo.org.uk/themes/schools/educationalachievement/files/educational_achievement_research_review.pdf
Back
30
Children, Schools and Families Select Committee (2010) From
Baker to Balls: the foundations of the education system. Ninth
report of session 2009/10. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmchilsch/422/422.pdf Back
31
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, Times Education
Supplement, May 28 2010 Back
32
Op cit Fazackerley, A, Wolf, R and Massey, A (2010) Back
33
Ibid, p64 Back
34
Ofsted (2008) Complaints to Ofsted about schools: guidance for
parents. http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-all-by/Other/General/Complaints-to-Ofsted-about-schools-guidance-for-parents
. Back
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