School Matters: 48 Hour Inspection
0001 10:00:20:15 10:00:23:24
"The teachers who run your school
know what is done well
0002 10:00:23:24 10:00:26:24
and what needs to get even better."
0003 10:00:26:24 10:00:30:19
(narrator) In October 2004,
Ofsted inspectors wrote a letter
0004 10:00:30:19 10:00:34:11
to the children of Ladybarn School
in Manchester.
0005 10:00:34:11 10:00:37:18
The school had just been through
a new-style inspection.
0006 10:00:37:18 10:00:41:22
It was the first time pupils
had received a letter like this.
0007 10:00:41:22 10:00:43:22
"..what you think
could make it better
0008 10:00:43:22 10:00:46:02
and works to make
the changes happen."
0009 10:00:46:02 10:00:48:19
I liked the bit how...
0010 10:00:48:19 10:00:50:08
when you give it...
0011 10:00:50:08 10:00:53:08
what they liked most
about the school.
0012 10:00:56:03 10:00:59:10
What did you think about them
writing a letter to the children?
0013 10:00:59:10 10:01:01:10
Was it a good idea
or a bad idea?
0014 10:01:01:10 10:01:03:18
I thought it was a very good idea.
0015 10:01:03:18 10:01:06:08
Why was it a good idea?
0016 10:01:06:08 10:01:11:00
Because they're letting the children
and parents and teachers know
0017 10:01:11:00 10:01:13:06
how good the school is.
0018 10:01:13:06 10:01:16:12
When it says, "You work very hard
for your teachers
0019 10:01:16:12 10:01:20:05
and they do their best
to help you learn."
0020 10:01:20:05 10:01:22:19
Were you pleased to have
the letter to take home?
0021 10:01:22:19 10:01:23:21
Yeah.
0022 10:01:23:21 10:01:25:13
Why were you pleased?
0023 10:01:25:13 10:01:29:03
Because now I know that people
appreciate what we do.
0024 10:01:29:03 10:01:32:05
When they said, "What we liked
about your school the most."
0025 10:01:32:05 10:01:34:14
Because they're complimenting
our school,
0026 10:01:34:14 10:01:36:12
saying that it's really nice.
0027 10:01:36:12 10:01:38:13
Are they right?
Is it a good school?
0028 10:01:38:13 10:01:40:20
Yeah. I love coming here.
0029 10:01:43:08 10:01:47:18
Ladybarn is a one-and-a-half form
entry primary in Manchester.
0030 10:01:47:18 10:01:51:08
Last October's inspection,
which lasted just two days,
0031 10:01:51:08 10:01:56:09
was a pilot for the new system
which begins in September.
0032 10:01:56:09 10:01:59:11
This film looks back
at that process.
0033 10:02:01:07 10:02:05:07
Lisa Vyas has been headteacher
for seven years.
0034 10:02:10:11 10:02:13:22
She's experienced both
the old-style inspections
0035 10:02:13:22 10:02:17:06
and this new,
more narrowly focused version,
0036 10:02:17:06 10:02:21:16
with inspectors giving
just 48 hours' notice.
0037 10:02:21:16 10:02:23:22
The fact that
it was short notice
0038 10:02:23:22 10:02:27:07
really improved things
in terms of...
0039 10:02:27:07 10:02:30:11
we felt the inspectors
saw us as we really were,
0040 10:02:30:11 10:02:32:21
and we felt it was
an accurate evaluation
0041 10:02:32:21 10:02:34:22
of what we do on a day-to-day basis.
0042 10:02:37:09 10:02:39:22
Right, everyone, are you ready?
0043 10:02:39:22 10:02:44:21
Look up. Remember, all of these
words have got a long vowel sound,
0044 10:02:44:21 10:02:48:14
so we're looking for
ai, ee, ie, oa and oo words...
0045 10:02:49:23 10:02:54:13
(narrator) The key to the new
inspections is self evaluation.
0046 10:02:54:13 10:02:56:05
Before the inspectors came,
0047 10:02:56:05 10:02:58:24
the school filled in
a self evaluation form,
0048 10:02:58:24 10:03:03:23
being as honest as possible about
its strengths and weaknesses.
0049 10:03:03:23 10:03:06:04
(teacher) Sophie.
0050 10:03:06:04 10:03:09:07
- T-ai-l. Tail.
- T-ai-l. Tail.
0051 10:03:11:04 10:03:13:11
Liane.
0052 10:03:13:11 10:03:14:11
Sp...
0053 10:03:14:11 10:03:16:10
Got to get all that
at the beginning.
0054 10:03:16:10 10:03:18:13
Sp-r-ay. Spray.
0055 10:03:18:13 10:03:22:23
Brilliant. Good girl.
Long ay sounds. Spr-ay. Spray.
0056 10:03:23:17 10:03:27:13
(narrator) In the new system, only a
few teachers are actually observed.
0057 10:03:27:13 10:03:29:24
The inspectors' primary purpose
0058 10:03:29:24 10:03:34:06
is to make sure the school's
self-assessment is accurate.
0059 10:03:34:06 10:03:38:11
Janet Swailes was observed
by the inspectors.
0060 10:03:38:11 10:03:42:00
The new-style inspections
are much less intensive,
0061 10:03:42:00 10:03:45:03
because I only had
one lesson observation.
0062 10:03:45:03 10:03:48:10
It was more stressful,
that one lesson observation,
0063 10:03:48:10 10:03:51:07
because I was representing
my whole team,
0064 10:03:51:07 10:03:52:24
but in the old-style Ofsted
0065 10:03:52:24 10:03:56:09
I was observed every day
over a five-day period.
0066 10:03:56:09 10:03:59:20
So that meant that
the stress went on for longer.
0067 10:03:59:20 10:04:01:23
Would you worry that the new system
0068 10:04:01:23 10:04:04:13
is maybe less rigorous
than the old one?
0069 10:04:04:13 10:04:07:04
No, I thought it was more rigorous,
0070 10:04:07:04 10:04:10:03
because of the interviews
that we had.
0071 10:04:10:03 10:04:13:12
The senior management team
had an interview.
0072 10:04:13:12 10:04:16:18
We'd done our self evaluation form,
0073 10:04:16:18 10:04:20:08
and then I had
quite a thorough interview again
0074 10:04:20:08 10:04:22:06
over my subject areas.
0075 10:04:22:06 10:04:25:01
It seemed to me that
they were really checking
0076 10:04:25:01 10:04:28:07
that the management of the school
knew what they were doing,
0077 10:04:28:07 10:04:32:05
and then they were prepared to give
that ownership over to the school.
0078 10:04:35:04 10:04:38:19
The lead inspector for the pilot
was Clive Kempton.
0079 10:04:38:19 10:04:41:04
We asked him to return to Manchester
0080 10:04:41:04 10:04:45:07
to see what the school
made of the experience.
0081 10:04:46:08 10:04:49:21
It's trying to get to
what we've come to call
0082 10:04:49:21 10:04:52:05
the central nervous system
of a school,
0083 10:04:52:05 10:04:54:05
what makes a school tick.
0084 10:04:54:05 10:04:58:24
Are the people in posts of
responsibility in this school
0085 10:04:58:24 10:05:02:20
able to know
its strengths and weaknesses?
0086 10:05:02:20 10:05:07:09
Are they able to affect improvement
in this school?
0087 10:05:08:13 10:05:11:13
The new inspections
will take place every three years
0088 10:05:11:13 10:05:13:02
instead of six.
0089 10:05:13:02 10:05:15:22
Inspectors are encouraged
to adopt the approach
0090 10:05:15:22 10:05:18:21
they feel best suits the school.
0091 10:05:19:16 10:05:23:10
We don't inspect the whole school
like we did in previous inspections,
0092 10:05:23:10 10:05:26:05
where we turn over every stone.
0093 10:05:26:05 10:05:28:01
This time we focus on the issues,
0094 10:05:28:01 10:05:30:18
and we get those from
the pre-inspection scrutiny
0095 10:05:30:18 10:05:33:03
of the self evaluation form,
0096 10:05:33:05 10:05:36:20
the previous inspection report,
all the data available to us.
0097 10:05:36:20 10:05:40:00
- Morning.
- Hello. Thank you very much.
0098 10:05:43:24 10:05:46:01
Hello, Lisa. Nice to see you again.
0099 10:05:46:01 10:05:47:11
Nice to see you.
0100 10:05:47:11 10:05:48:22
(narrator) In this case,
0101 10:05:48:22 10:05:52:17
Clive decided to do
joint observations with Lisa.
0102 10:05:52:17 10:05:55:10
Talking about observation.
0103 10:05:55:10 10:05:59:08
When I was in, you and I did some
classroom observations together.
0104 10:05:59:08 10:06:03:13
Did that feel weird, or
do you think that was a good thing?
0105 10:06:03:13 10:06:06:03
I think that was
a really good thing to do.
0106 10:06:06:03 10:06:10:03
I've been left alone in terms of how
to do an observation in the past,
0107 10:06:10:03 10:06:14:24
and it was good to
test out my judgements
0108 10:06:14:24 10:06:17:14
and see whether
somebody else agreed with them.
0109 10:06:17:14 10:06:19:21
It gave validation
to what I was doing.
0110 10:06:19:21 10:06:22:04
- So it affirmed your judgements.
- Yeah.
0111 10:06:22:04 10:06:24:24
Also to see how
somebody else feeds back.
0112 10:06:24:24 10:06:28:22
It was a bit of an observation
opportunity for me as well.
0113 10:06:29:17 10:06:32:18
(narrator)The new-style
Ofsted reports are very short.
0114 10:06:32:18 10:06:35:10
Ladybarn's was just six pages.
0115 10:06:35:10 10:06:37:04
One of the issues highlighted
0116 10:06:37:04 10:06:40:09
was the provision for
gifted and talented children.
0117 10:06:40:09 10:06:43:09
The inspectors found that
the most able pupils
0118 10:06:43:09 10:06:46:06
were not being
sufficiently challenged.
0119 10:06:46:06 10:06:49:14
Today, Clive wants to see
if that's changed.
0120 10:06:49:14 10:06:54:05
He's visiting a mixed-ability
Year 5 and 6 art class.
0121 10:06:54:05 10:06:56:04
He's keen to see the lesson
0122 10:06:56:04 10:06:59:01
from the point of view
of the more able pupils.
0123 10:06:59:01 10:07:02:06
I have drawn lines
between my shapes,
0124 10:07:02:06 10:07:05:16
but I've continued it
to the very edge of the paper.
0125 10:07:05:16 10:07:09:10
So altogether
I've got about 15 sections.
0126 10:07:09:10 10:07:11:16
There were three pieces
I didn't use.
0127 10:07:11:16 10:07:16:08
Those are where you're going to try
your colours out in your sketchbook.
0128 10:07:16:08 10:07:20:01
Immediately you can get some idea
of the behaviour of the class
0129 10:07:20:01 10:07:21:18
when you look at the children.
0130 10:07:21:18 10:07:24:22
Why am I not going to put
the nose next to the eyes
0131 10:07:24:22 10:07:26:21
and the mouth underneath the nose?
0132 10:07:26:21 10:07:29:01
- Sam.
- Cos it would make the face again.
0133 10:07:29:01 10:07:31:05
It would make the face again. Yes?
0134 10:07:31:05 10:07:34:08
When you're sticking them on,
do you have to do it in a square
0135 10:07:34:08 10:07:35:24
because it's Cubist?
0136 10:07:35:24 10:07:38:09
You're going to need
your scissors, your glue,
0137 10:07:38:09 10:07:40:22
both your portraits
and your A3 page.
0138 10:07:40:22 10:07:43:15
It's got a certain amount
of structure to it already,
0139 10:07:43:15 10:07:46:21
which is what some art lessons
don't tend to have.
0140 10:07:46:21 10:07:50:17
That's where they go wrong. They
have the idea it has to be all open,
0141 10:07:50:17 10:07:52:15
- expressive and...
- Absolutely.
0142 10:07:55:13 10:07:58:23
(Clive) The transition -
they've moved into this next phase.
0143 10:07:58:23 10:08:01:07
How do you judge that transition
0144 10:08:01:07 10:08:04:05
from the explanation
to the activity?
0145 10:08:04:05 10:08:07:04
- How does it move? Smoothly or...
- It is smooth, isn't it?
0146 10:08:07:04 10:08:09:12
It is smooth, yeah.
0147 10:08:09:12 10:08:12:18
Do you get the impression
the children know what to do?
0148 10:08:12:18 10:08:16:00
Yeah, they're getting on
straightaway, aren't they?
0149 10:08:16:00 10:08:18:12
- There's not much fussing.
- Definitely.
0150 10:08:18:12 10:08:21:00
So I think the next thing
I'd want to do
0151 10:08:21:00 10:08:24:01
is to find out from the youngsters
0152 10:08:24:01 10:08:26:12
whether they understand
what they've got to do.
0153 10:08:27:02 10:08:29:21
- Abstract.
- Abstract.
0154 10:08:29:21 10:08:33:05
- Portraits.
- Abstract portraits.
0155 10:08:33:05 10:08:36:24
Now, what does that mean -
abstract portraits?
0156 10:08:36:24 10:08:39:21
Erm... Er...
0157 10:08:39:21 10:08:44:08
Like little pieces of a picture
in different places.
0158 10:08:44:08 10:08:46:08
They're not in the right place
any more?
0159 10:08:46:08 10:08:47:15
- No.
- OK.
0160 10:08:47:15 10:08:50:07
- About there.
- All right.
0161 10:08:50:07 10:08:52:24
So it won't look like a face
any more, will it?
0162 10:08:52:24 10:08:54:07
No.
0163 10:08:54:07 10:08:58:12
So, were there famous artists
that used to do this?
0164 10:08:58:12 10:09:00:14
- Picasso.
- Picasso. Right.
0165 10:09:00:14 10:09:02:09
He used to do this, did he?
0166 10:09:02:09 10:09:06:20
Have you looked at any pictures
that Picasso did?
0167 10:09:06:20 10:09:10:08
What I'd like you to do now,
if you look at mine,
0168 10:09:10:08 10:09:12:23
using the black pens
we used yesterday
0169 10:09:12:23 10:09:15:20
is to start putting on
these division lines.
0170 10:09:15:20 10:09:20:11
You might need to make it so it
doesn't truly follow the shape.
0171 10:09:20:11 10:09:23:24
So you might want to make
a straight line here,
0172 10:09:23:24 10:09:26:01
even though my shape isn't straight.
0173 10:09:26:01 10:09:29:06
- They know what they're doing.
- Yeah, yeah.
0174 10:09:29:06 10:09:32:18
But it's important that they're
doing it in the style of an artist
0175 10:09:32:18 10:09:35:19
rather than copying off
a piece of work by an artist.
0176 10:09:35:19 10:09:38:18
Sometimes you go in
and you see endless pictures of...
0177 10:09:38:18 10:09:42:05
- Water... Monet...
- That's right.
0178 10:09:42:05 10:09:45:06
Or the sunflowers is another one,
isn't it?
0179 10:09:45:06 10:09:49:22
OK, we're picking up so far
a positive picture of this lesson.
0180 10:09:49:22 10:09:54:00
Also the fact that
they're quite happy to take risks
0181 10:09:54:00 10:09:57:01
by the fact that they're cutting
them up very differently.
0182 10:09:58:17 10:10:01:10
Seven steps -
make sure you've done all of them.
0183 10:10:01:10 10:10:06:13
(Clive) The objective is to create
an abstract style portrait.
0184 10:10:06:13 10:10:08:11
That's an activity, isn't it?
0185 10:10:08:11 10:10:11:01
These are all
a series of activities.
0186 10:10:11:01 10:10:16:07
So, I suppose the question
I have at the moment is...
0187 10:10:16:07 10:10:23:00
whilst that is a learning objective,
it's more like an aim, isn't it?
0188 10:10:23:00 10:10:24:00
Yeah, yeah.
0189 10:10:24:00 10:10:27:11
So is it specifically
by the end of this lesson
0190 10:10:27:11 10:10:30:24
- the children will be able to...?
- Yes. Yeah.
0191 10:10:32:13 10:10:34:19
- It needs to be more skill-focused.
- Yes.
0192 10:10:34:19 10:10:37:12
It need to be more skill-focused.
That's exactly it.
0193 10:10:37:12 10:10:40:21
Is she focusing on pastel mixing?
0194 10:10:40:21 10:10:41:21
Yeah.
0195 10:10:41:21 10:10:44:11
Is she focusing on, erm...
0196 10:10:45:17 10:10:49:09
a specific thing about line
or tone or colour?
0197 10:10:49:09 10:10:51:00
So, I suppose we come back to...
0198 10:10:51:00 10:10:55:15
I think she was bringing the skills
from previous lessons together.
0199 10:10:55:15 10:10:57:19
That's right.
0200 10:10:57:19 10:11:03:07
But then focusing on the end product
as opposed to any additional skill
0201 10:11:03:07 10:11:06:01
that the children have picked up.
0202 10:11:11:18 10:11:17:14
I've been watching, Mary, how you've