When you’re notified that Ofsted will be conducting an inspection on your school, it can be particularly daunting, especially if you don’t know what to expect.
However, it’s important to remember that the aim of an Ofsted inspection is to identify areas for improvement, and provide support to help your school achieve these goals.
Although schools are generally only notified of an inspection on the day before they plan to visit, with the right preparation in place, you can ensure your school is ready no matter when they decide to inspect.
In this guide, we’ll be discussing everything you need to know to get ready for the Ofsted inspection, including your role as an educator, the types of documents they want to see and some potential questions they will ask.
Short Term Preparation for Ofsted
If you’ve just been notified that Ofsted will be visiting your school tomorrow, there are some things you will need to prepare at the ready, including documents and answers to any questions they may ask.
What Documents will Ofsted Ask to See?
While you won’t have to prepare anything extra for the inspection, you will need to provide the following documents to Ofsted, so it’s best to have them at the ready as soon as possible.
Information needed before the inspection:
- The single central record or the school
- A list of staff and whether any relevant staff are absent
- Whether any teachers cannot be observed for any reason (for example, if they are subject to capability procedures)
- Whether anyone is working on site who is normally employed elsewhere in the multi-academy trust (if relevant)
- Maps and other practical information, such as on whether the school uses interpreters or other specialist support
- Access to the school’s wifi, so that inspectors can connect to the internet
Information that will be requested for the start of the inspection:
- The school timetable, current staff list and times for the school day
- Any information about previously planned interruptions to normal school routines during the inspection
- Records and analysis of exclusions, pupils taken off roll, incidents of poor behaviour and any use of internal isolation
- Records and analysis of sexual harassment or sexual violence
- Records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour, either directly or indirectly, including racist, disability and homophobic/biphobic/transphobic bullying, use of derogatory language and racist incidents
- A list of referrals made to the designated person for safeguarding in the school and those who were subsequently referred to the local authority, along with brief details of the resolution
- A list of all pupils who have open cases with children’s services/social care and for whom there is a multi-agency plan
- Up-to-date attendance analysis for all groups of pupils
- Documented evidence of the work of governors and their priorities, including any written scheme of delegation for an academy in a multi-academy trust
- A summary of any school self-evaluation or equivalent
- The current school improvement plan or equivalent, including any planning that sets out the longer-term vision for the school, such as the school or the trust’s strategy
- Any reports from external evaluation of the school, including any review of governance or use of the pupil premium funding
What Types of Questions will Ofsted Ask?
Ofsted Questions about Education Quality
- How do you make sure that teaching meets the needs of all children?
- What do you do to demonstrate intent, implementation and impact?
- Are plans in place to bring children and young people up to speed in any areas of academic weakness present? Are children with learning disabilities enabled to excel?
Ofsted Questions about Curriculums
- How does the curriculum help a student in passing school?
- How is it ensured that the subject staff have the expertise to deliver the curriculum?
- How is the curriculum intent decided and communicated?
- How is assessment used to inform curriculum design and sequences of learning?
- How does the curriculum support safeguarding?
Ofsted Questions about Pupil Reading
- How do you engage students and develop a love of reading?
- What level of texts students are expected to read at home? How do you engage them and make parents aware of these expectations?
- How do you provide access to reading for those who don’t or can’t read at home?
Ofsted Questions about Cultural Capital
- How do you promote an understanding of “culture”?
- How do you improve students’ cultural capital (and how do you ensure it)?
Ofsted Questions about Behaviour and Attitudes
- Can students explain how positive behaviour and attitudes are encouraged and rewarded in the school?
- Is attendance improving and what are the areas where it is particularly high?
Ofsted Questions about Health and Safety
- Does the staff ensure that students eat high quality, nutritious foods? Are students educated about the importance of nutrition and how to eat well?
- Are students encouraged to take part in physical activity they enjoy? Are those with disabilities enabled to engage in physical activity?
- Are school leaders and staff aware of how to identify and respond to online safety concerns?
- Are students safe from discrimination and bullying?
- Do students understand how to stay safe online?
Ofsted Questions about Leadership and Management
- What would you do if you had concerns about a member of staff?
- What is the staff qualified for?
- How is staff performance monitored?
- Is the staff aware of students’ performance in school?
- How do school leaders make sure that new staff is given the knowledge they need to keep children safe? Is there mandatory training for them at their new workplace?
- How are newly qualified teachers supported when it comes to school policies and practices?
- How is the staff trained to identify risks of a student being neglected, abused or exploited?
Ofsted Questions about Safeguarding
- What do you do to ensure that you have comprehensive safeguarding policies in place?
- How do you record safeguarding incidents?
- Does the staff know to whom to report safeguarding concerns?
- When did the staff last undertake safeguarding training?
- How do you report a safeguarding issue? What if the manager is not there?
- What would be some warning signs for you that there was a safeguarding issue with one of your students?
Ofsted Questions Regarding Parents
- How do you keep parents updated on policy and procedures?
- How often do you report information to parents about their child’s progress?
- What is your process for dealing with parent complaints?
Ofsted Questions about Personal Development
- How do you promote British Values in your setting?
- How are you checking that students know what they have learnt?
- How do you monitor the quality of careers guidance and how well it benefits students in choosing and deciding on their next steps?
- How are students’ talents and interests identified and developed?
Long Term Preparation for Ofsted
All schools know they will be visited by Ofsted at some point, so it’s important to be ready well in advance with some long term preparation. Ideally, this should be started as soon as possible.
Know the Ofsted Process
Become familiar with the Ofsted inspection process so that you can ensure your school is meeting the required standards. This includes what Ofsted expects from schools and how they will be assessed.
Make sure you understand the four key areas that Ofsted inspects: the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.
Gather Evidence
As we mentioned in the short-term preparation, in order to demonstrate that your school is meeting the required standards, you'll need to provide evidence. This might include lesson plans, pupil progress data, records of safeguarding and child protection, and evidence of staff training and development.
To make it as simple as possible to gather this information quickly. It is essential for you to keep records up to date and organised so that you can easily access it when needed.
Review your Curriculum
Ofsted will be looking at the quality of education in your school, which includes the beating heart of any school: the curriculum. Review your curriculum to ensure that it meets the needs of your pupils, helping them to become future geographers, mathematicians, historians or authors.
Make sure that your curriculum is cohesive and well structured, providing opportunities for pupils to develop their knowledge and skills. By knowing what your curriculum plans are and why, you can give confidence to inspectors when they ask questions about the topic.
Focus on Teaching and Learning
Ofsted will be looking at the quality of teaching and learning in your school. Ensure that your teachers are providing high-quality lessons and that they're using a range of teaching strategies to engage and challenge pupils. You may want to consider peer observations or learning walks to ensure that teaching is consistently good across the school.
Part of high quality teaching includes digital transformation (DX). Digital Transformation is designed to provide students with more flexible and interactive ways of learning to meet their individual needs, as well as preparing them for the real-world, where technology is constantly developing.
However, according to the Department for Education, just 9% of UK schools are classed as being ‘digitally mature’.
Just 9% of UK schools are classed as digitally mature
How Can Schools Become More Digitally Mature?
In order to further transform schools to make them more digitally mature, the PPT framework can be implemented:
People do the work.
Processes make this work more efficient.
Technology helps people do their tasks and automates processes.
This framework is often compared to a three-legged stool; if one leg is shorter or longer, the whole stool loses its balance and becomes wobbly.
How DMS Can Help Your School Become Digitally Mature
While it is the responsibility of staff to manage the People and Processes aspects, DMS can provide the ultimate technology solution for your school.
You can never overstate the importance of great tech and tools in building future-ready schools.
Once a school’s objectives have been articulated, processes defined and staff trained, the technology can catalyse the school’s growth.
The DMS Digital group specialises in offering a wider range of IT services, managed print solutions, audio visual services and document management for schools and other educational organisations.
Our experience working with schools and colleges means we’re able to fully understand and appreciate your unique requirements and work with you to maximise cost savings whilst exploiting every opportunity to improve your document production process.
Many schools strive for the best educational outcomes whilst facing funding pressure and growing class sizes. At DMS, we work with educational establishments to develop robust, cost-effective print infrastructures for the creation of high quality printing materials. We also support the move to digital education, with displays, whiteboards, door and visitor management and cybersecurity.
For more information about our bespoke technology packages, contact our team today.
