Following changes to school inspection last year what can school leaders expect when Ofsted visits? Suzanne O’Connell talks to one recently inspected primary school
Good: The inspection of St Nicholas Chantry CE Primary School was well received by staff, including headteacher Ro Reilly - Supplied

On Monday, October 7, at 9:30am, Rosanna Reilly’s deputy appeared in the doorway to her key stage 1 classroom and Ro, as she is known to her colleagues, immediately knew the news she had come to deliver.

Inspectors would be visiting on October 8 and 9 to give their verdict on the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and, of course, safeguarding provision at St Nicholas Chantry CE Primary School in Clevedon.

Following well publicised reforms to inspection last year, Ro and her staff were well aware that there would be no grade for overall effectiveness.

Each graded inspection report now clearly states that an overall outcome is no longer listed on the report’s first page. Instead, the list of individual judgements is clearly visible.

St Nicholas had been judged “requires improvement” after its previous inspection. The inspection in October vindicated the hard work of staff and pupils as inspectors judged the school “good” across all categories.

I caught up with Ro and her team to find out how the inspection differed this time around given the process of reform that Ofsted is currently going through.

 

Notification

Schools waiting for a graded inspection can now expect to be informed on a Monday between 9:30am and 2pm. This reduces the window of time each week during which school leaders might be waiting anxiously to discover if this will be the week.

Ms Reilly, who is two years into her headship at St Nicholas, reflected on this change: “I think knowing the call will be on a Monday will help those who know inspection is pending. I tried not to focus too much on when the call would be. I’ve been headteacher in three schools and the inspection timings have always been unpredictable.”

At any rate, Ms Reilly was aware that Ofsted had been accessing their documents on the school website, alerting her to an imminent inspection.

 

Checking in on welfare

The updated School Inspection Handbook includes new paragraphs that emphasise the wellbeing of staff and school leaders during inspection.

Paragraphs 122 and 123 state: “Inspectors should take careful account of the wellbeing of leaders and staff and adjust their approach or activity, as appropriate, as they go about their inspection work in the best interests of pupils. If inspectors see or suspect that a staff member (including all leaders and the headteacher) is upset or distressed at any point during the inspection, inspectors should respond sensitively.

“Where appropriate, inspectors will consider suitable adjustments to enable the staff member to continue. Where there are serious concerns, inspectors will contact duty desk and will normally inform those responsible for the person’s wellbeing.

“In exceptional circumstances, inspectors may need to consider pausing the inspection.”

Ms Reilly noticed a difference: “From the beginning it was evident that Ofsted was making school leader welfare a priority. The lead inspector could see I was fine, but she had her script to follow and there were points in the inspection when I was glad she was asking. There were more ‘keep-in-touch’ sessions.”

At each of these sessions, Ms Reilly was asked about her wellbeing. She continued: “The inspector was a genuinely lovely person, and her interest didn’t feel staged.”

Another reassuring factor was the support of the trust. St Nicholas Chantry is part of Futura Learning Partnerships: “Knowing that there are people you can call on makes a significant difference to your perception of the inspection,” Ms Reilly added.

 

Support at meetings

Paragraph 136 of the handbook states: “At the heart of our inspections is a professional dialogue between inspectors and leaders and so the lead inspector will agree a process for keeping leaders informed of progress throughout the inspection.”

Indeed, emphasis is given throughout the handbook to the importance of keeping school leaders informed and accompanied. This is included from the first contact that inspectors have during the initial phone call. Paragraph 97 adds: “The lead inspector will encourage the headteacher to have at least one other senior leader present during both calls, to assist and support them.”

Clarification is given in paragraph 24 of what might be discussed at the team meeting on day one of the inspection: “The team meeting on day one is an opportunity for the lead inspector and team inspectors to share evidence and consider the emerging evaluation of the school. However, the lead inspector may discuss with leaders their reflections on what they have heard. 

“This will give leaders the opportunity to: clarify any factual matters, draw inspectors’ attention to any other specific matters, contribute to planning the day two timetable.”

Reflecting on these points, Ms Reilly told Headteacher Update: “I’ve always had my deputy with me – we work so closely together. But I think there were more opportunities to bring people in and the school improvement advisor from the trust was present at the feedback meeting.

“When the middle leaders went into their meetings they were accompanied, which made a big difference. Just having someone there means that they can jog your memory – when you’re on the spot, you do sometimes forget the things you intended to mention.”

Indeed, in a recent Headteacher Update article focused on safeguarding staff wellbeing during Ofsted, expert Paul Ainsworth reminded headteachers of their right to have support throughout the process: “Remember, one of Ofsted’s tweaks was to make it clear in the handbook that school leaders can be joined by colleagues in meetings with inspectors.”

He added: “I have a golden rule: no-one should speak to an inspector on their own. For middle leaders in primary schools, subject leadership is just one part of their duties. Try and see if it is possible for you or another senior leader to accompany your middle leaders in Ofsted conversations. If you are part of a MAT, it is perfectly acceptable for MAT colleagues to accompany your middle leaders.” (To read this full article, see Ainsworth, 2024.)

 

Safeguarding

The inquest into headteacher Ruth Perry’s death ruled that the 2022 Ofsted inspection of her school had “contributed” to her suicide. A big part of the inspection was the role the safeguarding judgement had played in downgrading her school from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

The updated handbook states in paragraph 412: “If, had safeguarding arrangements been judged effective, all judgements would have been good or outstanding, inspectors will need to consider, based on the information available to them at that time, whether leaders are capable of resolving the issues with safeguarding within three months. If they consider that this is the case, the inspection will be suspended to give the school an opportunity to resolve those issues and we will return within three months.”

At St Nicholas Chantry, safeguarding was never an issue. The Ofsted report states simply: “The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”

Mr Reilly added: “We had worked really hard ensuring that everything was correct – but then this is all summed up in six words. A very short phrase for all the effort that’s put in.’

 

Advice

We asked Ms Reilly for her advice for schools anticipating an inspection. She told us: “Keep your school improvement documents up-to-date. There isn’t time when you get the call and there is a lot to bring together. Our SEF is short and sweet – only four and a half pages long.”

Reflecting on what she might have done differently, Ms Reilly added: “I should have asked someone to help with organising the timetables for the two days. It felt like a military operation, and it took a lot of my time when there was so much else to do.”

One aspect the headteacher did feel was given greater emphasis since her last inspection was pupil voice: “Our children are used to talking about their learning and they were articulate. If your pupils aren’t as comfortable with this, I think it could be a problem. We were close to outstanding on early years and personal development.”

Ultimately, in this case the changes to Ofsted inspection since September did not make a great difference to Ms Reilly’s experience in October: “It was a comfortable experience – they were genuine and not trying to catch us out.”  

 

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