FOR INFORMATION
BOROUGH OF POOLE
COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND EDUCATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
12 SEPTEMBER 2006
REPORT OF HEAD OF SCHOOL ADVICE AND SUPPORT SERVICES
SCHOOL OFSTED INSPECTION REPORTS
1.PURPOSE
1.1To inform the Committee of the outcome of those schools inspected by Ofsted (Office for standards in education) since the introduction of the new inspection regime in September 2005.
2.BACKGROUND
2.1A new system of school inspection was introduced in September 2005 as laid out in Section 5 (s5) of the Education Act 2005. The main elements of the system are more frequent inspections with shorter notice, smaller inspection teams, new and greater emphasis on the school’s own self-evaluation evidence, a common framework for inspection across all phases of education and shorter, sharper reports, with clear recommendations for improvement.
2.2On 13 December 2005, the Community Support and Education Scrutiny Committee agreed that as a result of the more frequent inspections it could not continue its practice of receiving all inspection reports and inviting Headteachers and Chairs of Governors to its meetings, as the volume of reports was too many for the number of Committee meetings available and the other areas of work it needed to consider.
2.3The Committee, therefore, agreed to only consider individual reports in depth, and ask Headteachers and Chairs of Governors to attend, when the report indicated a ‘notice to improve’ or ‘special measures’. Both of which meant the school was not performing at a satisfactory level.
2.4In all other cases the Committee asked for regular information reports summarising the results of school inspections. Appendix A sets out the results of those inspections which, for completeness, includes all schools inspected from September 2005 under the new regime. Of the nine schools inspected since September 2005 one school has been graded ‘outstanding’; six schools ‘good’; one ‘satisfactory’; and one has been given a ‘notice to improve’ – a report on that school was considered by the Committee in December 2005.
2.5A recent pilot study by the National Foundation for Educational Research of the new inspection regime found that the overwhelming majority of respondents were satisfied with the new arrangements, with many finding them less stressful than the previous system.
JANE PORTMAN
CHIEF ADVISER/HEAD OF SCHOOL ADVICE AND SUPPORT SERVICES
Contact Officer:Brian Davy
Education Officer (Quality Assurance)
Telephone:01202 633091
Email:
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