Learning Loss

By mattwo13 Comments
In these new and uncertain times, pupils will have spent many months away from school due to the closures put in place as a result of Covid-19. Schools in England were closed to all pupils except those of key-workers and vulnerable children on the 20th March 2019 and have only reopened to certain pupils in the last few weeks. Learning has been disrupted and will have been lost. As this is an unprecedented situation in the UK, there is no previous research that can show us what the educational impact of COVID-19 school closures might be. Never in our lifetimes have so many schools been closed for so many children. We prize attendance in our schools and often use posters like this to make children and parents aware of why time at school is so important. But what happens if the whole school is closed and everyone stops attending? Has this happened before..? Closed Schools Studies of previous school closures abroad show a...
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Home Learning

Home Learning

By mattwo63 Comments
We present a wide range of fun, educational and engaging resources schools can share with pupils and families. This long list of links and resources was put together over the summer of 2020 and has continued to grow ever since. Many thanks to those from around the world who have suggested ideas and links. We hope you continue to find them useful! “Such an Inspiring collection of Links & Resources” Learning Check out these links for Primary and Secondary age. Early Years Activities for 2-5 year olds - stories, craft and more Exploring See the world from space and live elephants in Africa... Craft Ideas 100s of ideas from a variety of sources.. Colouring Here are over 100 patterns and pictures to choose from.. Museums Visit the Louvre, British Museum and more... Fun Activities 100s of Ideas and Links "What a huge help for families!" Science Create giant bubbles, a rocket that blasts off and more.. Baking Loads of recipes and ideas from cupcakes to pizzas. Reading Escape to a new world with these reading links. Discovering Fascinating facts about Space,...
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Ofsted Inspection Judgements and IDACI

By mattwo7 Comments
On 14 January 2020 Ofsted released data regarding its latest judgements as of 31 December 2019. Now that 4 months have passed since the introduction of the new Ofsted Inspection Framework, there are sufficient schools to do a meaningful analysis of trends under this new framework. There is a correlation between deprivation and attainment but is there one between deprivation and Ofsted's judgements, and has it changed from previous years? This article will use the IDACI measure as a measurement of deprivation and consider Ofsted's Full Inspections only. We have considered those inspections which resulted in an Overall Effectiveness judgement of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, for Primary and Secondary schools. More details are at the bottom of this article. Overall Effectiveness Firstly, for these 619 schools, what is Ofsted's Overall Effectiveness judgement? The full details are in the table below: In headline terms, for primary schools, the chances of getting an Outstanding/Good judgement is 60%, whereas for secondary schools it is 45%. There is...
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Has Ofsted really gone off School Data?

By mattwo3 Comments
The new Ofsted framework states that inspections will not examine any internal school data. But, in practice, what does this mean for schools? What have staff said? Feedback from Staff who have gone through the new framework stated that conversations were not data-centred but did assume you had a good working knowledge of the external data for your school. Data was discussed as an informer to the team’s approach, not as the sword of Damocles it has been. Context was investigated in thorough detail, giving us a chance to tell our story. DAN MORROW - CEO, Woodland Academies Trust However, when you read on, you see that the external data does inform what the deep dives look to see... Instead, the deep dives commenced with immediate observations of staff through learning walks (all accompanied by phase/subject leads) and through hearing children read: the year one children who had not reached GLD, the year twos who had not secured the phonics-screening check, and the...
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Year 7 Catch-up Premium

By mattwo2 Comments
How well is your school using the additional funding for pupil premium and Year 7 Catch up? Ofsted will be looking for how you are supporting your new Year 7. The 2019 Ofsted Inspection Handbook says: In evaluating progress in literacy and mathematics, inspectors will take into account the progress of those for whom the Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium provides support. [In Outstanding schools,] Governors systematically challenge senior leaders so that the effective deployment of … Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium … secures excellent outcomes for pupils. In Outstanding Schools.. The following quotes are taken from Ofsted Inspection Reports of Outstanding secondary and all-through schools in 2018/19: Leaders use additional funding very effectively for disadvantaged pupils and those in Year 7 who need extra help to catch up with others. … Year 7 pupils who join the school with low starting points are provided with targeted support to improve their reading. Pupils benefit from work that closely matches their abilities and...
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Ofsted Curriculum: Intent and Implementation

By mattwoNo Comments
The new Ofsted Inspection Framework speaks a lot about Curriculum. Whilst the new directed focus has been welcomed, there is a lot of misunderstanding about what this means in practice. Schools are buying in help from outside sources against Ofsted Advice and Ofsted are constantly claiming there is no "Ofsted curriculum". So what will inspectors be looking for in your school curriculum from September 2019 onwards? What do they mean by a good or outstanding "quality of education"? In this article, we hope to help answer these questions by looking at Amanda Spielman's recent speech, the results of the Ofsted research project and the Ofsted School inspection Handbook. Amanda Spielman In a speech in 2019 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Amanda Spielman was discussing the Ofsted research into Curriculum and what this means moving forward. The quality of education judgement does consider how well pupils are doing in national assessments and qualifications. But this should be the reflection of what children have...
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Ofsted’s concerns regarding Curriculum Design

By mattwo2 Comments
In our previous article, we had a look at Ofsted indicators regarding strong/weak Curriculum Design. In this article, we'll have a look at some of Ofsted's concerns. Curriculum Design What is curriculum? Amanda Spielman, Chief Inspector of Ofsted, has said: The curriculum really is the most important thing to think about as educators. As I said earlier, it’s the ‘what’. The very essence of what we want children to learn. It’s how we prepare them, as best we can, for what they might face next. And to leave children unprepared is, frankly, a dereliction of duty, I’m sure you’d agree. ... Sequencing does have a part to play here. ... So a degree of signposting, of showing children the way, is needed. It’s not enough to simply put everything out there and hope that something sticks.This isn’t about having some beautiful tick list of what a child should do, and when. If a child is having difficulty with something, it’s about stepping in...
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Ofsted’s assessment of Curriculum

By mattwo4 Comments
In previous articles, we took a look at what Ofsted's inspections under the new Inspection Framework will look like from September 2019, and how they may assess Work Scrutinies and Lesson Visits. In this article, we will look at how Ofsted may assess Curriculum design, based on the results of the research project that took place to help create the new Framework. Assessment of Curriculum The 25 indicators used in the research model will no doubt be narrowed down by the first inspections in September 2019. They revolved around: Intent Rationale, Ambition, Concepts, Implementation Subject leadership, Subject knowledge, Equitable delivery, Planning the progression model, Breadth and depth, and Assessment. Of the 25 quality indicators, Ofsted's research has found that some of them were either more highly correlated with each other in models or were considered by Inspectors are more essential. These are: Intent There is a clear and coherent rationale for the curriculum design. The curriculum is at least as ambitious as the standards set by the national curriculum/external qualifications. Curriculum principles include the requirements of centrally prescribed aims Implementation Subject...
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Ofsted Deep Dive

By mattwo7 Comments
So what is a Deep Dive? During an inspection, inspectors are not going to concentrate on the ambitions or intentions of senior leaders, but rather "let's see that in action together". The Deep Dives are principally to gather evidence in relation to "quality of education", and the lesson visits can also gather evidence in relation to "behaviour and attitudes". They will have a series of deep dives on particular subjects: For secondary schools, they will sample four to six subjects. For primary schools, they will sample three to five subjects. It will always include reading, it will usually include maths, and there will also be one or more foundation subjects, including one that is taught during the inspection. In small schools, this may be adapted as appropriate. Evidence Each deep dive will look at the following, usually jointly with school and curriculum leaders, and will try to connect these different pieces of evidence: Senior Leaders Evaluating intent for the curriculum including their understanding of its implementation and impact. Curriculum...
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Ofsted Inspections – Outstanding schools – Work in books

By mattwoNo Comments
This series of articles examines Ofsted Inspectors' comments, as published in their Inspection Reports, in relation to "Outstanding" schools. In this article, we will have a look at work in pupils' books. Work in Books In the 2018 Ofsted School inspection handbook, which was the current one at the time of these inspections, Ofsted said that (my emphasis added): 188. Inspectors will gather evidence about the progress of current pupils through: • observations in lessons • discussions with pupils about their understanding of things they have been learning about • scrutiny of pupils’ acquisition of knowledge, understanding and skills over time as shown in their work, including that in their books • the school’s own information, taking account of the quality and rigour of the assessment on which it is based. However, in the draft 2019 handbook, Ofsted are proposing to essentially remove the last bullet point. They say: 178. While they will consider the school’s use of assessment (see paras...
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