Evaluation areas, toolkits and operating guides
Use the toolkits and operating guides to get to know the six core evaluation areas, allocating responsibility for different evaluation areas across your team where you have the capacity to do so.
Judgements and self-evaluation
Use self-evaluation to build a sense of where you believe your school should fit on the report card, identifying particular strengths and areas for development and be prepared to argue for this.
Data and context
Understand your data and be ready to share the story that it tells, outlining how it informs your practice, and be sure that inspectors understand your context and your community, both at the level of the school and the locality.
Inclusion and engagement
Focus on inclusion in each of the evaluation areas, concentrating your attention on educational experiences and outcomes for those who might be deemed vulnerable, especially those cohorts identified by Ofsted.
Wellbeing and workload
Be able to demonstrate how you pro-actively address wellbeing and workload issues for staff and wellbeing and development needs of pupils, identifying how you capture evidence on this and actions that you have taken to address any identified wellbeing challenges.
Organisation and curriculum delivery
Given that full inspections will ordinarily be notified on a Monday and take place on a Tuesday and Wednesday, ensure that you have a sense of what you wish to showcase on these days – think about subjects, year groups, curriculum enrichment and extra-curricular activities that you want to showcase through the ‘learning walk’ (the methodology replacing ‘deep dives’ and where lesson visits will take place.)
Governors and trustees
Work with the Chair of your governing board to clarify the role that you need the governing (and, where applicable, trust) board to play in the inspection process and ensure that individual governors and trustees understand how the inspection process works and their part in supporting the school during an inspection. They might need training on this and a clear understanding of what could be asked, in order for governors to feel confident to participate. Remind governors and trustees that the former ‘Leadership and Management’ evaluation area is now framed as ‘Leadership and Governance’.
Knowledge and networking
Draw on the Ofsted materials posted in the Ofsted Academy portal and liaise with those in leadership roles in other local schools to build an understanding of how inspection is being delivered and experienced ‘on the ground’.
Preparation and readiness
Identify, in advance, who you wish to engage in the pre-inspection planning call (which is likely now to be a video rather than phone call), the key issues that you intend to raise in this call, the individual who you plan to identify as the link with the inspectors during the inspection (the ‘nominee’ role), and where you will base the inspectors during the inspection. Feel empowered to show your expertise and explain your strategy and planning.
Outlook and orientation
Be inspection-aware but not inspection-driven. Utilise the prospect of inspection as a development opportunity. Take Sir Martyn Oliver at his word, that “inspection should be done with and not to schools”.
