September 2024
Starting from:
£99 + VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
This conference considered the future for school inspections in England.
It was an opportunity for stakeholders and policymakers to examine the new Government’s policy priorities for school inspection, with DfE recently announcing that single headline grades for schools following inspection will be scrapped with immediate effect. Schools will receive four grades across existing sub-categories for the remainder of this academic year, followed by the introduction of School Report Cards from September 2025.
Delegates also looked at measures outlined in the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, including extending Ofsted’s remit to include inspections of multi-academy trusts and providing Ofsted with stronger powers to investigate the offence of operating an unregistered independent school.
Those attending considered options for how Ofsted judgements are delivered during this academic year while looking ahead to the introduction of a report card system from September 2025. They discussed how to ensure report cards provide a full and comprehensive assessment of a schools performance and are understandable for parents and guardians.
There was also a focus on issues around accountability and the future of school improvement plans, with the Government announcing the introduction of Regional Improvement Teams from early 2025 to work with struggling schools.
We expected wider discussion on the ways in which Ofsted works with education professionals, and the future development of inspection practice and organisational culture, alongside the recruitment and retention of inspectors. Strategies for improving the information provided to parents and guardians were also considered, including the potential for integrating views of stakeholders from the Ofsted Big Listen into inspection reform.
The agenda brought out latest thinking and best practice in preparing the teaching workforce for inspections, as well as the implementation and impact of Ofsted’s new complaints policies and procedures, introduced last April following consultation. Strategies to reduce the impact of inspections on staff workload and wellbeing were also discussed, as well as staff mental health.
Inspections of multi-academy trusts and how they should work were considered, including how often they should take place and how trusts should be graded. Discussion also considered the inspection process for further education colleges moving forward.
Further sessions considered the first months of HM Chief Inspector of Schools since his term of office started at the beginning of the year, including the recent announcement that subject deep dives during ungraded inspections will end from September - with inspections focusing on the impact of the school curriculum, the personal development of staff and the behaviour of pupils.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. Those that attended include officials from DfE; Ofsted; HMPPS; Home Office; Department for the Economy, NI; and the HoC Library.
