Ofsted Inspection

If you are happy with the way the school is run then there is no need to ask anything!

We submitted some positive comments about the school on the questionnaire form but didn't have any questions we thought they should ask school..........but if there is an issue you want to raise anonymously its a good way to do it.

My Littluns school had their OFSted 18 months ago. The report read quite well and it especially praised the Governors. Hardly surprising since I was a governor at the time! Had a 30 minute chat with one of the inspectors too about the website I did for the school. Thats now long gone, been replaced by a pile of poo, 'cos they didnt know how to maintain it - despite hours of tuition!

Since its a private school MB... Id probably be tempted to ask if you were getting value for money and are the standards significantly better than municipal.

Ask your child(ren) if they would like anything asked eg are toilets clean/smoke free, how is bullying dealt with, are there duff teachers? etc

Sometimes youngsters don't think that they are allowed to ask this sort of question so worrying isses are left untackled.

THANKS FOR REPLIES GUYS!!

yeah but its not a pricey one. and its only till 11 so he gets past the 11 plus and into a gramar school (free in kent). we dont have super fab facilities here tbh....the private school next door is much better but fees there are twice as much as here. as i want him to go grammar i wont bother investing overly, esp now that we onna have three kiddies!

thats a fab idea.

Are you happy with the school? Are there any concerns you'd like to raise to the inspectors? You can make both positive and negative comments.

Is your child happy at the school?

Is there a school council? Are the childrens voices heard? How good is the school - parent relationship?

Do you know at all times how well your child is doing within the school?

Why oh why do schools get advanced warning of oftsted inspections? Defeats the object I think. My daughters school (a few years ago) put on a special play to try to impress the inspectors. They wouldnt have bothered otherwise.

A decent inspector can see through this extra effort tbh. The college where I work got a grade 1 two years ago. All the inspectors looked at was data, not teaching (which was nice for me to escape for a change). OFSTED have reduced the notice period schools get but some notice is needed as there are certain things schools need to prepare in advance.

They have 2 days notice now.

MB - I know that things have changed in the inspection process since I was last Ofstedded and I've retired now, so I know even less!! They used to have a full meeting of all concerned = parents etc after the inspection for feedback. I don't know if they still do or if they just go by the parents' questionnaires, which are deemed very important.

If you have specific questions or worries about any of the standards than you should voice them. For instance, if you think that the strategies for improving progress in your own child's English writing have been good then you could mention that and similarly if there has been, in your view, inadequate indivualised teaching, again for your own son - not a general rant!!, that would be a good point to make. The idea is to identify strengths and weaknesses so that improvements can be initiated if needs be.

You could look at the last report and see those areas which were weak last time and ask whether the action plans have been implemented effectively.
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/list

I think you are specifically excluded from naming individual teachers but you can still say things like - well taught in science!

My daughters school did something similar. They were inspected last month, and the put out all of these toys in the infant playground that have never been there before. They made it look like the kids had loads of things to keep them occupied in the playground. Inspectors went, toys went away and haven't been seen since, and they've never been out like that for the entire previous school year. The school also makes a point of frequently writing home and asking parents to keep all children, including younger siblings, off the climbing frames before and after school, and they've just banned the little scooters from the school grounds in the mornings and after school

I think you can make a complaint to ofsted at any time if you feel the need to.

I dont think it fair they put on one face for the inspectors and live by another every day.

I told the inspector at the time, although they didn't seem overly concerned about it. My concern was if they're doing something as silly as this, then what else are they 'pretending' about in the school. since the new headteacher took over last year, the school has slowly been going downhill. It's a shame, because it was such a good school before. The last Ofsted inspection saw the school get a 2 grade in pretty much all areas, but this report was 3's in 99.9% of the areas, which is a worry really as it's only 1 grade away from being unsatisfactory

Remember though that grade 3 is technically 'satisfactory'. The problem with a four point grading system this. Our inhouse policy now is that any teacher who receives a grade 3 in an internal observations is reobserved; personally not sure abouyt thatas they are deemed to be satisfactory. I would be concerned if a school fell so dramatically from grade 2 to grade 3. My main concern when choosing my kids school will be whether they will be happy, not something I have really seen OFSTED bother with. Best source of info is often parents of kids at the school already.

Like what?
How long do inspections last? Is it a day or spread over a few days?