Management Information Sheet

September 2013 - with immediate effect

Some significant amendments have been made by Ofsted to the current framework for section 5 inspections. These will come into effect immediately, beginning with inspections taking place in the current week.

A comprehensive view of changes which may affect schools can be quickly gained from the attached version of the Handbook which shows all changes, highlighted in yellow.

Aspects of the changes which are likely to require significant preparation and re-focusing by schools are:

P 12, 20, 136 the expectations on schools of communicating with parents and gaining further evidence where responses from Parent View are low.

P 56, 136 Expectations of governor knowledge and understanding with which to challenge the school, in particular their use of specific data sources including the Ofsted data dashboard and progress data within year groups and for vulnerable groups. Their evaluations must also include the impact of their own work and their own skill development.

P 27, 33, 122 strongly reinforced instructions that inspectors must refrain from basing judgements on their own preferences for any particular form of lesson or teaching methodology.

P 27 Inspectors will observe not only pupils' learning in general, but specifically they must 'assess the extent to which pupils have grown in knowledge' and this is reflected in the grade descriptors for overall effectiveness. Pupils' 'thirst for knowledge' also provides a key element in the descriptor for curriculum.

P48 Inspectors are reminded that no single measure or indicator determines judgements.

P117, 118 In future, pupil starting points from which progress is judged, will take account of children's achievement in the EYFS and throughout KS1, rather than only the end of KS data. In judging achievement, there will be a greater focus on judging the progress made by groups of pupils with different prior attainment in mathematics and English, rather than an aggregate score.

P124, 125 Inspectors should be guided by the response and engagement of pupils as well as the frequency and accuracy of assessment as it is used to set subsequent work, including in the EYFS. Good teaching is that which will prepare pupils properly for their next stage of learning, including especially the development of communication, language and literacy in the EYFS.

P131 The focus on the importance of pupils' attitudes to learning and towards others is increased.

P132, 136 Inspectors are directed to consider the contribution the school may be making to improving the performance of others and the role of the headteacher in bringing about improvement within the school.

P136 The effectiveness of the use of sport funding to improve provision, performance and participation.

Grade descriptors repeat and reinforce these aspects

While these elements appear likely to have the widest impact, other changes will be more significant in some contexts, emphasising the need to study the whole document.

A new edition of Subsidiary Guidance [September 2013 version 3], also attached, was published on 16 September and expands on some of these points. In particular, it gives considerable further detail about assessment in the EYFS and judging progress across the EYFS and KS1. A revised version of the non-statutory guidance Development Matters has also been recently published as Early Years outcomes and is again attached to this MI sheet. Discussion of these changes will be incorporated into different planned briefing sessions (dates to be announced shortly) as appropriate.