The role and performance of Ofsted

Memorandum submitted by The Royal Society of Chemistry

1. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is the UK Professional Body for chemical scientists and the largest organisation in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences. Supported by a worldwide network of members and an international publishing business, the RSC’s activities span education, conferences, science policy and the promotion of chemistry to the public.

2. The RSC welcomes the opportunity to submit a response to the House of Commons Education Committee Inquiry on the role and performance of Ofsted and wishes to emphasise the following points:

a) Inspection of schools should play an instrumental role in achieving improvement both at the individual school level and nationally, both by enabling the spread of better practice alongside inspection outcomes contributing to the development of national strategies.

b) The inspection process has a role in ensuring the accountability of all schools in terms of standards of teaching and learning but the system requires serious review to insure that there is agreement across all stakeholders about what is expected from the education system and what indicators can be used to gather evidence of success against these expectations.

c) The emphasis on published results as a component in initial assessments of schools should be reduced.

What the purposes of inspection should be  (relating not only to schools but to all organisations, settings and services under Ofsted’s remit)

3. Inspections have a role in ensuring the accountability of educational establishments but fundamentally should be instrumental in the improvement and advancement of these establishments.

4. With the growth and evolution of our educational infrastructure    it is essential to maintain a national, strategic view and a measure of the quality of teaching and learning in schools. However, in order to achieve this, the definitions of quality teaching and learning must be revisited and reviewed with "buy-in" from all stakeholders, so that not only best practice, but better practice can be recognised and shared. The RSC recommends that, in the inspection process, emphasis should also be placed on the provision of qualitative and quantitative feedback to schools that will drive improvement and the spread of ‘better practice’. Regular feedback to inform Government policies and strategies is also vital but the RSC believes that this would be more effectively achieved by a system of random sampling of schools using spot check inspections.

5. Efforts should be made to maximise the effectiveness of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) through feedback of better practice and an increased inspection focus on the provision and effectiveness of support at both the training establishment and during placement in schools. The expectations of the outcomes of ITT need to be clearly defined, so that appropriate indicators can be developed for inspection.

6. It is essential that inspections continue to contain a subject specific component carried out by appropriate subject experts so as to ensure that subject specific challenges to teaching and learning are identified and tackled efficiently. The RSC suggests that, in order to provide vital evidence on a national scale, carrying out inspections of science subjects should have an emphasis on:

§ Subjects being taught by specialist teachers;

§ Evidence that teachers have access to, and frequently use, appropriate lab facilities and equipment to integrate high quality practical work into the curriculum;

§ A good balance of theoretical and practical work taking place;

§ The delivery of a coherent science curriculum that showcases the exciting and relevant nature of the sciences;

§ Inspirational teaching through curriculum innovation and creativity within the demands of the appropriate specification;

§ Adequately preparing students for higher education (HE) and employment.

The impact of the inspection process on school improvement

7. The RSC strongly believes that the inspection process should be instrumental in achieving an overall improvement in the standards of education in the school involved – in the current system this is not demonstrably the case. In order to improve the impact of the inspection process the RSC recommends that teacher feedback becomes central to the inspection process. The RSC is concerned that the time taken by schools to prepare for inspection detracts from teaching and learning and would recommend a move towards spot check inspections which would provide a less contrived picture of the school’s provision.

The performance of Ofsted in carrying out its work

8. Subject specific inspections are vital in maintaining standards in relation to the unique needs of each subject and such inspections should be carried out by subject experts with considerable teaching experience. It is essential that the inspectorate is externally reviewed to ensure that appropriate specialism is available within the inspectorate. The RSC recommends that greater collaboration between Ofsted and the professional bodies should become central to further development of subject specific inspections; this will help to ensure that across all subjects students receive the highest standard of education that will prepare them for both higher education and employment.

9. The RSC suggests that feedback mechanisms to teachers should be reviewed in order to increase the impact of inspections on school improvement and ensure that meaningful dialogue occurs.

The consistency and quality of inspection teams in the Ofsted inspection process

10. To promote consistency and quality in inspections, Ofsted needs to maintain a balance of specialism across all subjects. It is essential that inspectors have regular opportunities for professional development and that this presents further opportunities for Ofsted to work with professional bodies like the RSC. It is equally important to monitor the standard and quality of the inspection teams regularly to ensure high standards are maintained and to identify areas in need of improvement. The RSC recommends that a review of the monitoring of the Ofsted inspectorate is carried out to ensure the accountability of inspectors.

The weight given to different factors within the inspection process

11. While the RSC understands there is a need to make initial assessments of schools there is concern that an assessment which contains a focus on published results, along with attendance records and pupil and parent views, may contribute to the pressure on schools to ‘teach to the test’. Whilst it is important to be able to monitor and compare schools’ progress, the RSC is concerned that league tables and the tie-in between inspection grading and published results may have a restrictive impact on the nature of curriculum delivery and innovation in the classroom. The RSC strongly believes that the inspection process should foster and encourage innovation and creativity in curriculum delivery.

Whether inspection of all organisations, settings and services to support children’s learning and welfare is best conducted by a single inspectorate

12. Independent of whether a single inspectorate remains, or whether an alternative model is developed, it is imperative that the school inspections facilitate the improvement of the teaching and learning environments offered to pupils within schools as well as ensuring accountability.

The role of Ofsted in providing an accountability mechanism for schools operating with greater autonomy

13. With increasing autonomy for schools, ensuring accountability becomes essential. The RSC seeks reassurance that, as the diversity of the school system increases all pupils will continue to engage with a broad, balanced and engaging curriculum in the sciences, and that there is an accountability process in place to ensure this does occur in each school.

Looking forward

14. The RSC strongly believes that the first stage of review of the inspection system should involve a dialogue between all stakeholders to establish the expectations of the education system and appropriate indicators that could provide evidence of achievement against these expectations.  This clear, agreed view of expectations would provide a basis for ensuring that national assessment and board examinations, initial teacher training, teacher professional development and the inspection system can all deliver against the same framework.  The RSC suggests that a random survey system on schools, involving spot checks, would reduce the bureaucratic burden on schools and provide a clearer picture on a national level.  The RSC also suggests that the provision of a simple system by which groups of parents can seek for advice and help if a sizeable number feel that a school has a significant problem would be of benefit to the inspection system. 

October 2010