Letter from Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty's
Chief Inspector, Ofsted, dated 28 February 2011
I was pleased to have the opportunity to appear before
the Committee recently to give evidence as part of the inquiry
into Ofsted's role and performance. This scrutiny is a key way
in which I discharge my accountability to Parliament, and I welcome
the chance to respond to questions and present our evidence.
During the proceedings I undertook to provide you
with evidence on the impact of monitoring inspections for schools
coming out of special measures. I hope you find the information
in this letter useful.
Let me begin by explaining that when a school is
placed in special measures, Ofsted invites the headteacher, the
chair of the governing body and a local authority representative
to a school improvement seminar. The seminar explains how Ofsted
monitors and reports on a school's progress, illustrating the
sort of evidence of improvement expected at each visit. Almost
all the schools invited take up the invitation to this kind of
seminar. The participants comment that the most valuable aspect
is the help provided in clarifying the issues for improvement
raised in the report and discussing with Her Majesty's Inspectors
the agenda for their school.
The school improvement seminars set the scene and
help schools and local authorities to plan for improvement. During
subsequent monitoring inspections, inspectors are expected to
add value to the process of improvement. For example, inspectors
give a very clear steer that the school must tackle the most significant
weaknesses and not be distracted by other issues. This can be
critical in ensuring that the senior leadership team remains focused
on the main priorities.
Subsequent monitoring inspections focus on close
observation of classroom practice and improvements in teaching
and learning. They are designed to track progress on all the key
issues and the feedback from inspectors has proved to be highly
beneficial in helping these inadequate schools to improve. Schools
tell us the visits themselves are important in instilling a sense
of real urgency and that they value the contributions from Her
Majesty's Inspectors.
A survey of headteachers of schools removed from
special measures in 2006-07 found that in just over half the schools,
headteachers and other staff who had been present at the time
of the special measures judgement stressed the value of the monitoring
conducted by HMI. These visits were seen as a force for improvement
because: they helped the school to focus on identified areas;
they kept the school on track, imbued rapid pace and gave a strong
steer for improvement. Seventy eight per cent of the headteachers
reported that their schools would not have made the same progress
at the same rate without the monitoring visits. The monitoring
visits unequivocally drive improvement.
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