Between 2012 and 2020 if your school was judged by Ofsted to be outstanding then you knew you could breathe easy for a few years. In fact, for 13 years or more, in some cases.
For those schools, it meant no fear of the “phone call” and the opportunity to thrive and develop freely – the ultimate freedom.
However, during this time the Ofsted framework substantially changed. Exam results were no longer as pivotal and the new framework in 2019 saw the curriculum being delivered in schools come to the fore. This was a significant shift that some outstanding schools perhaps did not navigate as well as others.
And as we all know, from 2021 formerly exempt schools were added back onto Ofsted’s hitlist and the results tell the tale.
Of the 371 previously exempt schools, only 17% remained outstanding and 62% dropped to “good”. A further 21% dropped even further in Ofsted’s eyes to “requires improvement” or “inadequate”. For a school used to being applauded as outstanding, it is a mighty blow.
But it’s not just outstanding schools. A quick scan of recent inspections of “good” schools suggests that a number of them have been given a warning during their monitoring visits that they could be next. The standard phrase seems to be: “There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.”
Reading further down such reports it is evident that it is curriculum development which is often the issue for inspectors:
- “Plans to improve the curriculum are at an early stage.”
- “Leaders have not identified the key knowledge and skills that should be taught and when.”
However, the drop in grade is not inevitable. Among the 17% of outstanding schools to retain their grade are Askwith Community Primary School in West Yorkshire and Crossacres Primary Academy in Manchester.
Askwith Primary
Askwith is a small, village school with 103 pupils. They were judged outstanding in 2008. In November 2022 they were contacted by inspectors, 14 years after their last visit.
There had been some changes at the school including academy status and a new headteacher. However, they repeated their 2008 success and inspectors in 2022 remarked on their “ambitious curriculum”.
Current headteacher Elaine Nayler had been deputy head in 2008 and so had also been closely involved in the mechanics of the previous inspection.
Over a 14-year period it could have been easy to take your eye off the ball. However, Ms Nayler felt the culture of the school meant that this was never an option: “We were a national Teaching School and our curriculum has always been a strong focus for us. Building the curriculum on evidence-based practice has always been a key part of how we work. So there was no need for radical change.”
Askwith has built a very “lean” curriculum model as a result of its work on memory.
Ms Nayler continued: “We had introduced knowledge checking and had been impressed by what the research showed us – that we can overload children with too much information. We engaged in stripping back the priorities and focusing very clearly on what we wanted our pupils to learn.”
Curriculum simplicity
The school began with English and maths, ensuring that after four checks the children’s learning is embedded. From this point on, the model was applied to all subjects at the school – a consistency across the curriculum that inspectors noted.
This had other benefits too, Ms Nayler explained: “The consistency of approach across all the subjects has been an important feature of making the job of subject management a little easier.”
As a small school each teacher has at least three subjects to oversee: “We approach the planning of each subject in the same way and this helps. We also agree everything together – no-one is working in isolation and we have a very supportive network with a minimum of paperwork.”
The size of the school also means that pupils are grouped together in mixed ages with a rolling programme applied to the mixed year groups of years 1-2, years 3-4, and years 5-6.
Being small does have some advantages. For example, subject leaders can identify meaningful links between their subjects during their planning.
Their experience as a Teaching School means that subject leaders are used to being observed and this openness, Ms Nayler feels, has been an advantage: “Teachers have been used to talking through their subjects and supporting others in their subject development. We invite and encourage people to come in and watch us too. It is beneficial for others to review what we are doing and give feedback.”
And her advice for other schools? Ms Nayler believes consistency across subjects is vital. Being small is perhaps an advantage for this but she also feels that whatever the size of the school, providing opportunities for people to come together and share their practice wherever possible is very important.
Crossacres Primary
Crossacres is a large school in Manchester with 718 pupils and a deprived catchment area. However, this is never used as an excuse.
They received an outstanding grade 12 years ago and knew that relaxing was not an option. Eventually, re-inspection came in January 2023 – with the school keeping its outstanding grade.
Part of the drive for this came from its headteacher Suzanne Blay. As an Ofsted-trained inspector she was well aware of the changes in the framework and was committed to ensuring they would not be caught off guard whenever their next inspection took place: “I have been headteacher here for 18 years and was well aware that with the new framework we would need to make some changes.”
While staff were at home during Covid, the school used this as an opportunity for subject leaders to write new schemes of work with the help of a consultant.
This investment in staff time and consultancy fees paid dividends. Not only do they have an inspirational curriculum that inspectors described as “rich and engaging”, but they have been able to sell their plans to other schools and get some money back in return.
Inspectors commented: “The curriculum matches the ambition of the national curriculum. In some subjects, it goes beyond this. Leaders are clear about what pupils will learn from the moment they start in the nursery year through to the end of year 6.
“They have meticulously identified the key knowledge that they want pupils to know, and by when, in each subject.”
Subjects have been planned in detail and staff appreciate the fact that they do not have to spend large amounts of time planning what they need to teach. There are still important meetings between staff, but this is more about identifying resources and addressing other technical issues.
During their latest inspection there were six deep dives, so nearly every subject was inspected in detail.
Having written the schemes of work themselves, the subject leaders knew exactly what was being taught and how in each year group. During these discussions leaders felt well-prepared and, in fact, it gave them the opportunity to talk about and highlight their achievements.
“It’s very important to be honest in evaluating yourself,” Ms Blay explained. “If something needs improving – focus on improving it. At one point we recognised that there was a problem with reading. Over the summer we worked very hard on this area of weakness at the time and changed the reading scheme completely with very positive results.”
- Suzanne O’Connell is a freelance education writer and a former primary school headteacher.
Headteacher Update Summer Term Edition 2023
This article first appeared in Headteacher Update's Summer Term Edition 2023. This edition was sent free of charge to every primary school in the country. A digital edition is also available via www.headteacher-update.com/digital-editions/
Further information & resources
- Ofsted: Askwith Community Primary School, November 2022: https://bit.ly/40N95yt
- Ofsted: Crossacres Primary Academy, January 2023: https://bit.ly/41QfrP5