NASUWTThe Teachers’ Union

The Common Inspection Framework:maintained schools and academies

Guidance for Teachers

November 2017

Contents

Introduction 5

1. Overview of the inspection process 6• The main changes to inspection from October 2017 6• Exemption from inspection 7• Requests to inspect schools 7• Risk assessment 8• Frequency of inspection 8• Notice of inspection 9• Length of inspection 10• Size of the inspection team 10• Focus of inspection 10

o Overall effectiveness 10o Effectiveness of leadership and management 11o Effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessment 12o Personal development, behaviour and welfare 13o Outcomes for pupils 14o The Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty 15o Safeguarding 16o Use of the pupil premium 16

• School leaders’ involvement in the inspection process 16• Seeking views of teachers, parents and pupils 17

o Staff questionnaire and members with staff 17o Pupils’ views 17o Parents’ views 17

• Inspecting partnerships, federations and off-site provision 18• Feedback during inspection 18• Inspection grades 18• Academy orders for schools judged ‘inadequate’ 19• Monitoring of schools subject to an academy order or waiting

to be re-brokered 19• Reporting 20

o Reporting – letter for schools that receive a short inspection 20o Reporting – inspection report following a full (section 5) inspection 20

• Complaints about inspection 20

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2. NASUWT advice 22

• The quality of inspection judgements 22• Teacher professionalism 23• Performance management 23• Continuing professional development 24• Teachers’ pay progression 24• School self-evaluation 24• Lesson observation 25• Lesson observations that are not part of an inspection 26• Learning walks and drop-ins 26• Staff attendance during inspection 27• Inspector interviews with staff 27• Preparation for inspection 27• Myths and facts about inspection – Clarification for schools 27• Assessment 28• Special educational needs and inspection 28• Value Added (VA) measures and school context 29• Inspection of a broad and balanced curriculum 30• Inspecting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC)

development 30• Promoting fundamental British values, preventing radicalisation and

extremism 32• Inspecting compliance with the Equality Act 2010, including the public

sector equality duty (PSED) 33• Safeguarding 34• Staff behaviour policy 34• Staff views 34• Pupils’ views 34• Parent View 35• Inspection of the governing body/committee/board/overarching body 35• Commenting on the draft inspection report 36• Schools graded ‘inadequate’ 37• Schools graded ‘requires improvement’ 37• Confidentiality 37• Complaints to Ofsted from parents 38• Complaints about inspection 38

Appendix 1: Further information about inspection 39Appendix 2: Clarification for schools 40

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IntroductionThis guidance has been updated to reflect minor changes to inspection handbooksfrom October 2017.

The guidance applies to teachers working in maintained schools and academies.It also covers areas that are inspected in non-association independent schoolinspections and will be of relevance to teachers working in these schools.

Much of the detail about the arrangements for inspection, including informationabout the focus of inspection, is included in the School inspection handbook. TheSchool inspection handbook is not a statutory document. This means that Ofstedcan change the focus of inspection without reference to Parliament and withoutconsulting teachers, school leaders and other stakeholders.

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1. Overview of the inspection processThe common inspection framework sets out how routine inspections of maintainedschools and academies under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended)will be conducted.

The School inspection handbook provides further information about routine (section5) inspections.

The School inspection handbook – section 8 provides guidance for inspectors onconducting other inspections. These inspections may be carried out for a numberof purposes and include:

• short inspections of ‘good’ schools or of ‘outstanding’ schools that are notexempt from section 5 inspections;

• monitoring inspections of schools judged as ‘requires improvement’ or ashaving ‘serious weaknesses’ or as requiring ‘special measures’;

• inspection of ‘outstanding’ schools that are exempt from routine inspectionswhere Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) has concerns about the school;

• unannounced behaviour inspections; and

• other inspections such as thematic inspections, or inspections carried out atthe request of the Secretary of State for Education.

Further guidance, Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skillssettings, explains how inspectors will inspect and judge the effectiveness of aschool’s safeguarding policy and practice.1

The main changes to inspection from October 2017Where a short inspection converts to a full inspection, the full inspection will takeplace between 48 hours and seven working days of the conclusion of the shortinspection. Ofsted’s aim is that most conversions will take place within 48 hours ofthe end of the short inspection.

Ofsted will increase the ‘inspection tariff’ of the inspection team conducting shortinspections in large secondary schools (schools with more than 1,100 pupils) byone inspector.

From October 2017, some ‘good’ schools will receive a section 5 (full) inspectionrather than a short inspection. Ofsted will use risk assessment to identify schoolsthat would be most likely to convert from a short to a full inspection. These couldbe schools that are judged most likely to receive a higher (‘outstanding’) or lower(‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’) inspection judgement.

Ofsted has amended guidance for inspectors to make it clear that they should treatpublished data about small groups of learners with caution. Specifically, inspectors

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1 Ofsted, Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings (August 2016).

should treat data for groups with high proportions of pupils with special educationalneeds (SEN) with caution.

At the time of writing, Ofsted is consulting on further changes to inspection. If theproposals are accepted, they will be introduced from January 2018. Ofsted isproposing that where it is not possible to confirm that the school remains good (orgood outstanding in the case of exempt schools), the letter would state this andsay that the school will receive a section 5 inspection when it is next inspected.

Exemption from inspectionThe common inspection framework covers all maintained schools, including specialschools and pupil referral units (PRUs), academies, free schools, universitytechnical colleges (UTCs), studio schools and certain non-maintained specialschools. It also covers non-association independent schools.

Mainstream schools and academies judged as ‘outstanding’ in their previousinspection are exempt from routine (section 5) inspections.

Special schools, PRUs and maintained nursery schools that have been judgedoutstanding will continue to be inspected as part of routine inspections. Ofstedsays that special schools, PRUs and maintained nursery schools with an overalljudgement of ‘outstanding’ cannot be exempted from inspection because eitherthere is limited data on pupils’ performance available or there is no standardisedperformance data available and because pupils in these settings are vulnerable.

Schools judged ‘outstanding’ will be included in section 8 thematic and surveyinspections.

Ofsted may inspect a school, including an exempt school, where:• there is a concern about safeguarding;• a subject or survey inspection raises more general concerns;• Ofsted receives a qualifying complaint about the school and other evidence

suggests it would be appropriate to inspect;• concerns are raised about standards of leadership or governance;• concerns are identified about the breadth and balance of the curriculum; or• HMCI or the Secretary of State has concerns about the school’s performance.

In these instances, Ofsted will conduct a section 8 (‘no designation’) inspection.This may be conducted as though it were a section 5 inspection. Where issues areidentified, Ofsted may convert a section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection.

Requests to inspect schoolsThe Secretary of State may require HMCI to carry out an inspection of a school.

Others may also make a request for Ofsted to inspect a school. This might bebecause there are concerns about the school. Such a request might be made by a

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local authority, teachers, parents or inspectors who have undertaken a subject orsurvey inspection of the school.

HMCI makes the decision whether a request for inspection is agreed. Dependingon the reason for the request, such an inspection may be undertaken with no notice(this might be the case if there are concerns about safeguarding).

A school might request an inspection in order to confirm high or improvingperformance. This request should be made by the appropriate authority (usually thegoverning body). Where a request is approved, Ofsted will conduct a section 8inspection, but will treat the inspection as though it were conducted under section 5.HMCI may charge the appropriate authority for the cost of conducting the inspection.

Risk assessmentAll schools will be subject to a risk assessment of their performance. The riskassessment normally takes place in time for the start of the third year after the mostrecent inspection and has two stages.

The first stage of the risk assessment involves an analysis of publicly available data.

The second stage involves a more in-depth, desk-based review of a wider rangeof information.

Ofsted will analyse pupils’ academic achievement over time, taking account of:both attainment and progress; pupils’ attendance; the outcomes of any inspectionssince the last routine inspection; ‘qualifying complaints’; information from parents,including information from Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents);and any significant concerns brought to its attention, including local intelligencegathered by Ofsted regionally.

Frequency of inspectionDetails about the frequency of inspection are contained within the variousinspection handbooks.

Ofsted has made it clear that inspection will be proportionate, with resources beingtargeted at schools judged to be ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’.

Schools judged ‘good’ for overall effectiveness in their last inspection will beinspected approximately every three years. Most schools will receive a section 8(short) inspection, but some will receive a section 5 (full) inspection.

Special schools or PRUs that were judged ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ for overalleffectiveness in their last inspection will receive a short inspection approximatelythree years after their last inspection.

Schools judged as ‘requires improvement’ will be re-inspected under section 5‘usually no later than the end of the term in which the 24th month after the

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publication of the report falls’.2 Where a new headteacher joins the school after thesection 5 inspection judgement, the school will be re-inspected no later than 30months after the publication of the previous report.3

Schools that have been judged as ‘requires improvement’, where leadership andmanagement was also judged as ‘requires improvement’, may receive a monitoringinspection during the two-year period. The Ofsted Regional Director will decidewhether a school should receive a monitoring inspection.4

All schools judged as ‘requires improvement’ will be monitored regularly.

If a school does not demonstrate that it has improved to ‘good’ at re-inspection,the lead inspector will decide whether the school continues to be judged as‘requires improvement’ or whether it should be ‘inadequate’. If a school is judgedas ‘requires improvement’, further section 5 inspections will take place within twoyears and the school may receive monitoring inspections between section 5inspections.5 Consecutive ‘requires improvement’ judgements do not mean that aschool will be judged ‘inadequate’.

Maintained schools that have been judged ‘inadequate’ will be subject to anacademy order.6 The school will become a new school and will be inspected withinthree years of operation.7

The Secretary of State may terminate the funding agreement of an existingacademy that is judged ‘inadequate’ and the academy may be re-brokered to besponsored by another trust. A re-brokered academy will be inspected as a newschool usually in the third year of operation.

In exceptional circumstances, a new academy may receive a section 8 inspectionbefore their next section 5 inspection.8

Notice of inspectionA school will normally be contacted during the afternoon of the working day beforethe start of the inspection.

Schools judged ‘inadequate’ will usually receive up to 2 days’ notice before thefirst monitoring inspection.

HMCI may arrange for an inspection of a school to take place without notice if thisis deemed to be appropriate. This might be because there are particular concerns

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2 Ofsted, School inspection handbook: Handbook for inspecting schools in England under section 8 of the EducationAct 2005 (October 2017), paragraph 87.

3 Ibid, paragraph 88.4 Ibid, paragraph 89.5 Ibid, paragraph 91.6 Ofsted, School inspection handbook: Handbook for inspecting schools in England under section 5 of the Education

Act 2005 (October 2017), paragraph 110.7 Ibid, paragraph 110.8 Ibid, paragraph 110.

about behaviour and/or safeguarding, a rapid decline in academic standards or wherethere is strong voicing of concern raised by parents/carers. In this instance, theinspector will normally telephone the school about 15 minutes before arriving on site.

Length of inspectionShort inspections of all ‘good’ schools and ‘outstanding’ special schools and PRUslast one day.

A full inspection normally lasts two days. In the case of a full inspection that hasconverted from a short inspection, the second day will follow up to seven workingdays after the initial inspection day.

Size of the inspection teamThe size of the inspection team will vary according to the size and nature of theschool. Short inspections of primary schools may be carried out by a single inspector.

Focus of inspectionInspectors will make key judgements about the following areas:

• overall effectiveness;

• effectiveness of leadership and management;

• quality of teaching, learning and assessment;

• personal development, behaviour and welfare;

• outcomes for pupils.

In addition, when judging the effectiveness of leadership and management,inspectors must judge whether the school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupilsare effective.

Further, if the school has a sixth form or early years provision, Ofsted will make aseparate judgement about the effectiveness of this provision. In forming thisjudgement, inspectors will consider each of the areas inspected that are set out above.

Overall effectivenessThe ‘overall effectiveness’ judgement is an evaluation of all the evidence about thequality and standards of education. In forming the judgement, inspectors will takeaccount of the other four judgements.

Inspectors should always make a written judgement about the effectiveness of thearrangements for safeguarding pupils under the overall effectiveness heading.

Inspectors should first make the key judgements on the quality of teaching, learningand assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare for pupils, andoutcomes for pupils. Inspectors should then judge the effectiveness of any earlyyears provision or 16-19 programmes. Finally, inspectors should make ‘the keyjudgement’ on the effectiveness of leadership and management.

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In forming a judgement, inspectors must evaluate a range of issues including:

• the extent to which the school meets the range of pupils at the school, includingpupils who are disabled or who have SEN; and

• how well the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural(SMSC) development.

Effectiveness of leadership and managementInspectors will evaluate:

• leaders’ and governors’ vision and ambition for the school and how this iscommunicated to staff, parents and pupils;

• whether there is a culture of high expectations, aspirations and scholasticexcellence in which the highest achievement in academic and vocational workis recognised;

• whether leaders have the highest expectations for social behaviour amongpupils and staff;

• the rigour and accuracy of self-evaluation and how well it leads to planning thatsecures continual improvement;

• the design, implementation and evaluation of the curriculum, ensuring breadthand balance and its impact on pupils’ outcomes and their personaldevelopment, behaviour and welfare;

• how well the school supports the formal curriculum with extra-curricularopportunities to extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding and improve theirskills in artistic, creative and sporting activities;

• how well the school prepares pupils positively for life in modern Britain andpromotes the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law,individual liberty and mutual respect for and tolerance of those with differentfaiths and beliefs and for those without faith;

• the effectiveness of leaders’ actions to secure and sustain improvements toteaching, learning and assessment;

• how well leaders ensure that the school has a motivated, respected andeffective teaching staff to deliver a high-quality education for all;

• the quality of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers at thestart of, in the middle of and later in their careers, including to developleadership capacity, and how leaders and governors use performancemanagement to promote effective practice throughout the school;

• how effectively leaders monitor the progress of groups of pupils to ensure thatnone falls behind;

• how well leaders and governors engage with parents, carers and otherstakeholders and agencies to support all pupils;

• the effectiveness of safeguarding;

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• how well leaders and governors promote all forms of equality and foster greaterunderstanding of and respect for people of all faiths (and those of no faith),races, genders, ages, disabilities and sexual orientations (and other protectedcharacteristics) through their words, actions and influence within the schooland more widely in the community;

• the effectiveness of leaders’ and governors’ work to raise awareness of andkeep pupils safe from the dangers of abuse, sexual exploitation, radicalisationand extremism and what staff do when they suspect their pupils are vulnerableto these issues;

• how effectively leaders use additional funding (including the pupil premium)and measure its impact on outcomes;

• how effectively governors hold leaders to account for these factors.

Inspectors will obtain evidence from meeting with leaders and governors and first-hand evidence of their work across the school. Inspectors will also usedocumentary evidence provided by the school. They will evaluate the impact ofleaders’ and governors’ work currently and over time. Further, inspectors will useresponses to the staff questionnaire, Parent View, as useful evidence for judgingthe culture that has been established by leaders and managers.

Effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessmentInspectors will evaluate the extent to which:

• the Teachers’ Standards are being met;

• teachers and other staff have consistently high expectations of what pupils canachieve, including the most able and disadvantaged pupils;

• teachers and other staff have a secure understanding of the age group theyare working with and have relevant subject knowledge that is detailed andcommunicated well to pupils;

• assessment information is gathered for looking at what pupils already know,understand and can do, and is informed by their parents/previous providers asappropriate in the early years;

• assessment information is used to plan appropriate teaching and learningstrategies, including to identify pupils who are falling behind in their learning orwho need additional support, enabling pupils to make good progress andachieve well;

• pupils understand how to improve as a result of useful written or oral feedbackfrom teachers;

• the school’s engagement with parents, carers and employers helps them tounderstand how children and learners are progressing in relation to thestandards expected and what they need to do to improve;

• equality of opportunity and recognition of diversity are promoted throughteaching and learning;

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• English, mathematics and the skills necessary to function as an economicallyactive member of British society are promoted through teaching and learning.

Inspectors will consider the impact of the teaching of literacy outcomes across thecurriculum and the extent to which the school intervenes to provide support forimproving pupils’ literacy, especially for pupils at risk of underachieving. In the caseof young children, inspectors may make judgements about the effectiveness ofphonics teaching.

Inspectors will evaluate how well a school is teaching mathematics, includingidentifying and tackling inconsistencies in maths teaching between different groupsof pupils, key stages, sets and classes, including those taught by non-specialistmaths teachers in secondary schools. They will also evaluate how well teaching inobserved lessons fosters understanding of new concepts and methods, ensuresthat pupils acquire mathematical knowledge appropriate to their age and startingpoints, develops pupils’ depth of understanding and readiness for the next stage,and enables pupils to solve a variety of maths problems, applying the knowledgeand skills that they have been taught. Further, inspectors will evaluate the impactof pupils’ mathematical knowledge, skills and understanding on outcomes acrossthe curriculum.

Inspectors will use a considerable amount of first-hand evidence gained fromobserving pupils in lessons, talking to pupils about their work, scrutinising their work,and assessing how well leaders are securing continual improvements in teaching.

Inspectors must not advocate a particular method of planning, teaching orassessment,9 and inspectors must not give the impression that Ofsted does.

Inspectors will not grade the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, inindividual lessons or learning walks.10

Personal development, behaviour and welfareInspectors will make a judgement on the personal development, behaviour andwelfare of pupils by evaluating and, in the case of section 5 inspections, makingseparate judgements about behaviour, and about personal development and welfare.

Inspectors will consider whether the school is successful in building pupils’ self-confidence, self-awareness and understanding of how to be a successful learner.They will also assess the extent to which pupils are supported to make choicesabout the next stage of their education, employment, self-employment or training,including from impartial careers advice and guidance, where relevant. This mayinclude judging how well pupils are supported to develop employability skills.

Inspectors will judge whether pupils attend school regularly and whether they arriveat lessons promptly.

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9 Ibid, paragraph 29.10 Ibid, paragraph 164.

Inspectors will assess the extent to which the school promotes and supports pupilsto understand how to keep themselves safe from relevant risks such as abuse,sexual exploitation and extremism, including when using the internet and socialmedia. Inspectors will also evaluate how well the school supports pupils to keepthemselves healthy, including making informed choices about healthy eating,fitness and their emotional and mental wellbeing.

Inspectors will consider the extent to which the school works with pupils to preventall forms of bullying, including online bullying and prejudice-related bullying. Theywill also consider how effectively pupils and staff deal with any incidents of bullyingbehaviour.

Inspectors will make a judgement about how well pupils’ SMSC developmentprepares them to be reflective about and responsible for their actions as good citizens.

Outcomes for pupilsInspectors will look at current standards and progress. They will do so by evaluatingthe extent to which pupils progress well from their different starting points andachieve or exceed standards expected for their age nationally or within the school’sown curriculum. They will consider the progress of pupils in all year groups.

Inspectors will also evaluate the extent to which pupils attain relevant qualificationsso that they can and do progress to the next stage of their education, includinginto courses that lead to higher qualifications, and into jobs that meet local andnational needs.

Inspectors will evaluate pupils’ academic and vocational achievement.

Inspectors will give most weight to pupils’ progress. They will take account ofpupils’ starting points in terms of their prior attainment and age. They will comparethe performance and progress of current pupils with that of previous cohorts. Withinthis, they will give most weight to pupils currently in the school. Inspectors willconsider the progress of pupils in all year groups.

When assessing pupils’ progress, inspectors will consider the growth of pupils’security, breadth and depth of knowledge, skills and understanding.

Inspectors will consider whether all pupils are set aspirational targets and whetherthey are on track to meet or exceed these.

Inspectors will consider data about the progress of groups of pupils. However, theywill treat published data about small groups of children with caution. This couldmean, for example, that it is not appropriate to draw inferences about trends or tocompare their attainment and progress with national rates. Similarly, inspectors willtreat data for groups with high proportions of pupils with SEN with caution.

Inspectors will assess whether the most able pupils undertake work that deepenstheir knowledge, skills and understanding rather than simply undertaking work ofthe same difficulty or studying different content.

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Inspectors will pay particular attention to the progress made by disadvantagedpupils. They will compare pupils’ performance with national data where the data ismeaningful. If the size of the group of pupils is small, inspectors will use otherevidence to ensure that the school is providing effectively for those pupils, such asreviewing pupils’ work, talking to pupils and talking to teachers.

Inspectors will consider whether the most able pupils are making progress towardsattaining the highest standards and achieving as well as they should. They will alsoconsider the progress that lower attaining pupils are making and the impact onattainment of pupils who have fallen behind.

Inspectors will consider the progress of disabled pupils and those with SEN inrelation to the progress of pupils nationally with similar starting points. Inspectorswill examine the impact of funded support for them on closing any gaps in progressand attainment. They will also consider whether any differences exist between theprogress and attainment of pupils in resource-based provision and those withsimilar starting points who are disabled or have SEN in the main school. They willreport on any differences along with the reasons for these differences.

Inspectors must consider the progress of pupils who attend off-site alternativeprovision for all pupils for all or part of the week and the school’s own records ofthese pupils’ progress.

The Equality Act 2010 including the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)The common inspection framework states that inspectors will assess whether aschool complies with relevant legal duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010 andthe Human Rights Act 1998.

The Equality Act 2010 includes a public sector equality duty (PSED). The PSEDplaces a general duty on schools to take positive steps to eliminate discrimination,advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between groups whoshare a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The PSED places specific duties on schools to publish information annuallyshowing they are complying with the general duty, and to prepare and publish oneor more equality objectives, which should be updated at least every four years. Ifa school employs more than 150 people, then it will need to publish equalityinformation about its staff as part of the duty to publish information.

The common inspection framework says that inspectors will assess the extent towhich a school is meeting its duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the HumanRights Act 1998.

Inspectors will assess the extent to which a school is complying with these legalduties in all aspects of their work. The School inspection handbook says thatinspectors will consider ‘how leaders promote all forms of equality and fostergreater understanding of and respect for people of all faiths (and those of no faith),races, genders, ages, disability and sexual orientations (and other groups with

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protected characteristics) through their words, actions and influence with theschools and more widely in the community’.11

SafeguardingInspectors must judge whether a school fulfils its statutory and other responsibilitiesin respect of safeguarding. They must judge whether the school’s arrangementsfor safeguarding are effective and whether those responsible for governance ensurethat these arrangements are effective.

Inspectors will always make a written judgement about whether or not the school’ssafeguarding arrangements are effective. In the case of schools that receive a shortinspection, this judgement will be made in the letter confirming that the schoolremains good.

‘Safeguarding’ includes protecting pupils from deliberate harm, neglect and failureto act. It also includes broader aspects of education and care, including: pupils’health, safety and wellbeing, the needs of pupils with medical conditions, providingfirst aid, educational visits, intimate care and emotional wellbeing, online safetyand associated issues, and arrangements to ensure pupils’ security.

Inspectors will consider whether leaders and governors create an effectivesafeguarding culture. They will consider whether staff take immediate action if theyhave concerns about a pupil, and whether pupils understand and respond to andcalculate risk effectively.

As part of the judgement about safeguarding, inspectors will also consider whetherthe school is implementing the Prevent duty effectively and keeping pupils safefrom the dangers of radicalisation and extremism.

Use of the pupil premiumInspectors will gather evidence about the use of the pupil premium. This will includeevidence about the level of pupil premium funding that the school receives, how theschool has spent the money and why it decided to spend the money in the way thatit did, and any differences made to the learning and progress of disadvantaged pupils.

If inspectors identify specific issues regarding the provision and outcomes fordisadvantaged pupils, they will recommend an external review of the school’s use ofpupil premium funding. This means that the school should seek support from anindependent external system leader with a track record of accelerating disadvantagedpupils’ achievement. Inspectors will follow up the review in subsequent inspections.

School leaders’ involvement in the inspection processThe lead inspector must meet with the headteacher and/or senior leadership teamat the beginning of the inspection. They must also meet with the headteacherperiodically throughout the inspection.

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11 Ofsted, School inspection handbook – section 5, paragraph 148, sixteenth bullet.

Unless there are compelling reasons not to do so, headteachers are invited toattend the formal inspection team meetings at the end of each day of the inspectionand discuss the inspector’s recommendations to ensure that they are understood.

Participation in inspection activities is not mandatory and the headteacher canchoose whether or not to accept the invitation.

Seeking views of teachers, parents and pupilsStaff questionnaire and meetings with staffThe inspection arrangements allow inspectors to gather the views of staff by meansof an online questionnaire.12 The inspection co-ordinator will send an online link tothe school alongside the formal notification of inspection. The school is asked toencourage staff to complete the online questionnaire.

Staff can choose whether or not to complete the questionnaire.

Inspectors will also use evidence that the school has collected through surveys ofand consultations with staff.

The inspection team will hold meetings with staff. This will include holding a specificmeeting with NQTs and trainees.13

The inspection team may discuss issues raised by teachers with the school. Theywill not disclose a teacher’s identity. However, inspectors may pass on informationto social services or the police where concerns are raised about child protection.

Pupils’ viewsInspectors will gather the views of pupils using an online questionnaire. Theinspection co-ordinator will send a link to the survey and schools are asked toencourage pupils to complete the survey.14 Inspectors will also talk to pupilsformally and informally about their experiences of learning and behaviour in theschool. This will include talking to pupils about their experiences of how the schooldeals with bullying, discrimination and prejudiced behaviour if they occur. It willalso involve seeking pupils’ views about their work, what they have learned, andtheir experience of teaching and learning over time.

Inspectors will seek evidence about the views and experiences of different groupsof pupils.

Inspectors will also use evidence that the school has gathered from pupils through,for example, surveys and consultations.

Parents’ viewsSchools have a statutory duty to inform parents, when they are notified that aninspection is to take place.15 The school is required to send Ofsted’s letter toparents. This may be sent electronically as well as a paper copy sent via pupils.

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12 Ofsted, School inspection handbook – section 5, paragraph 58.13 Ibid, paragraph 83.14 Ibid, paragraph 58.15 Ibid, paragraph 52.

Parent View is Ofsted’s main vehicle for gathering the views of parents. It is anonline survey that invites parents who register with Ofsted to respond to a numberof closed questions about their child’s school. In the period from when the schoolis notified about the inspection until midday on the second day of inspection,Parent View will include an additional free-text box. This is to allow parents to addadditional comments about the school.

Inspecting partnerships, federations and off-site provisionInspectors may speak to key partners who work with the school. They will assessthe school’s quality assurance arrangements and the rigour with which the schoolmonitors the attendance, behaviour, learning and progress of pupils who attendoff-site provision.

Ofsted inspects individual schools, not a federation or partnership. However, schoolsthat are part of a federation or partnership may be inspected simultaneously.

Where schools are part of a federation or partnership, inspectors will inspect theimpact of collaborative arrangements, federations or specific support. However,leadership and management will only be judged in the context of its impact on eachindividual school. There is no judgement of the leadership and management of afederation or partnership overall.

Where simultaneous inspections of schools in federations and/or with shared sixthforms take place, the lead inspectors for each individual school should liaise onmatters relevant to the schools involved.

Ofsted considers innovation and community collaboration to be important aspects ofacademy policy. Therefore, when inspecting academies, inspectors should evaluatethe extent of the academy’s impact with other schools and the wider community.

Feedback during inspectionThe lead inspector will meet with the headteacher regularly throughout theinspection to provide an update on emerging issues, allow the headteacher to raiseconcerns, including concerns related to the conduct of the inspection, and to alertthem to any serious concerns.

The on-site inspection team should provide feedback at the end of inspection tothe headteacher and other relevant senior leaders agreed by the headteacher andlead inspector. The chair of the governing body, board of trustees or local governingbody; a representative from the board of trustees in the case of a multi-academytrust; and a representative from the local authority, academy sponsor and/or thedesignated responsible body should also be invited to the meeting.

Inspection gradesSchools are judged to be one of the following:

1. Outstanding. 2. Good. 3. Requires Improvement. 4. Inadequate.

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Schools that are graded ‘inadequate’ will either be deemed as having significantweaknesses or placed in special measures.

A school will be judged as having significant weaknesses if it is judged to be failingto provide an acceptable standard of education but is demonstrating capacity toimprove, or if it is performing significantly less well than it might, in all thecircumstances, reasonably be expected to perform.

A school will be placed in ‘special measures’ if it is judged to be failing to give itspupils an acceptable standard of education and if the people responsible forleading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity tosecure the necessary improvement in the school.

‘Special measures’ is defined by legislation and is applied when specific conditionsare met. It also means that there is not a progression from ‘serious weaknesses’ to‘special measures’.

Academy orders for schools judged ‘inadequate’The Secretary of State has a duty to make an academy order if a maintained schoolis judged to have ‘serious weaknesses’ or is placed in ‘special measures’. TheRegional Schools Commissioner will act on behalf of the Secretary of State forEducation to broker the academisation process.

In the case of existing academies, an ‘inadequate’ judgement may result in theschool’s funding agreement being terminated and the school being re-brokered toanother Trust.

Where a school becomes an academy or is re-brokered, it will be treated as a newschool and will normally be inspected as a new school in the third year of operation.

If an existing academy is judged to have ‘serious weaknesses’ or is placed inspecial measures’ but is not re-brokered, it will be subject to monitoring by Ofsted.Academies placed in ‘special measures’ will normally be re-inspected within 24months of the inspection. Academies judged as having ‘serious weaknesses’ willnormally be re-inspected within 18 months of the inspection.

Monitoring of schools subject to an academy order or waiting tobe re-brokeredThe Government’s intention is that maintained schools that are converting to anacademy as the result of an academy order and academies that are being re-brokered should convert within six months of the order being made. However, inmany cases, the process is taking much longer. As a result, Ofsted has indicatedthat it may conduct monitoring inspections of schools that have been waiting morethan nine months to convert or be re-brokered.

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ReportingReporting – letter for schools that receive a short inspectionSchools that have a short inspection and remain ‘good’ (or ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’in the case of schools that are not exempt from inspection) will receive a letterfollowing inspection. This will state that the school remains ‘good’, thatsafeguarding is effective, and outline the key strengths and areas for improvement.The letter will not include grades for the effectiveness of leadership andmanagement, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development,behaviour and welfare, and outcomes for pupils.

Reporting – inspection report following a full (section 5) inspectionSchools that have a full (section 5) inspection will receive an inspection report. Afull report will also be written where a section 8 inspection is deemed to be a section5 inspection.

The inspection report will provide grades and commentary for each key judgement.It must include a written statement in the section on leadership and managementabout the effectiveness of the arrangements for safeguarding pupils.

The school will receive a copy of the draft report for comment, includingcommenting on factual accuracy. The school will be informed of the timescale forcommenting on the draft report.

Schools will normally receive an electronic version of the final report within 14working days of the end of on-site inspection. In most circumstances, the finalreport will be published on Ofsted’s website within 19 working days.

Ofsted quality assures some inspections. If Ofsted decides that an inspection reportshould be subject to further quality assurance, the school will usually receive theelectronic version of the final report within 23 working days of the end of inspection.In these circumstances, the final report will usually be published on Ofsted’swebsite within 28 working days.

Complaints about inspection16

Step 1: If the school has a complaint about an inspection, the complaint should bemade to the lead inspector during the course of the inspection. The lead inspectorshould record the concerns and any actions taken in inspection evidence.

Step 2: If it is not possible to make a complaint to the lead inspector and theinspection is still taking place, the school should contact Ofsted and ask to speakto a senior manager. Contact the Ofsted Helpline on 0300 123 1231.

If the inspection has concluded, or the lead inspector failed to address thecomplaint satisfactorily, the complaint must be made online. The online complaintform can be found at: https://contact.ofsted.gov.uk/online-complaints-ofsted.

20

16 Ofsted, Complaints about Ofsted: raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted (April 2017).

If a complaint is about a judgement of ‘special measures’ or ‘serious weaknesses’,the school should not lodge a formal complaint. Instead, the school should requestan internal review (Step 3).

A complaint must be submitted no more than ten working days after the inspectionor the publication of the inspection report.

An investigating officer will investigate the complaint. They may contact thecomplainant. Ofsted will provide a written response to the complaint within 30working days.

Step 3: If the matter is still not resolved satisfactorily, the school can request aninternal review of Ofsted’s handling of the complaint. This must be done within 15working days of the response to the formal complaint. The school should receivea final written response within 30 working days.

Step 4: If the complaint is still not resolved satisfactorily, then the school can makea request to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted for anindependent review. This must be done within three months of receiving the writtenresponse to the internal review from Ofsted.

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2. NASUWT advice

The quality of inspection judgementsThe NASUWT has received regular feedback from members highlighting concernsabout the quality of some inspectors’ judgements.

The NASUWT continues to collect evidence about the inspection process andwould encourage teachers to complete the online survey, Inspect the Inspectors,following an inspection: www.nasuwt.org.uk/inspecttheinspectors.

The Union uses this information to identify how it can better support members,including pressing for changes to policies and practice nationally and locally,including in individual schools.

Teachers can also email the NASUWT (advice@mail.nasuwt.org.uk) with briefinformation about any problems they experience. In particular, the Union isinterested in cases where inspectors make judgements or reach conclusion’s thatare inconsistent with the provisions of the framework or the guidance in the Schoolinspection handbook.

Teacher professionalismInspectors will evaluate the extent to which leaders ensure that the school has amotivated, respected and effective teaching staff to deliver a high-quality educationfor all pupils. Inspectors will draw on a range of evidence when forming judgementsabout staff conditions, including feedback from the staff questionnaire andmeetings with staff.

International evidence shows that active engagement with the workforce is at theheart of good leadership and management. The Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD) report on building a high-quality teachingprofession emphasises the importance of work environments that are notprescriptive and do not use bureaucratic management procedures to direct theirwork, and where workers are ‘consulted on all matters of consequence’.17

School leaders should support teachers to access high-quality CPD, includingproviding time for this within the working day. School leaders should also supportteachers to exercise professional autonomy, work collaboratively and engage inplanning and decision-making processes.

Teachers should contact the NASUWT if Ofsted inspection is used to justify thepolicies and practices that undermine teachers’ professional status, such asexcessive monitoring and aggressive management styles.

22

17 OECD (2011), Building a High-Quality Teaching Profession: Lessons from Around the World.

Performance managementAt the start of inspection, inspectors will ask the school to provide informationabout its performance management arrangements, including the most recentperformance management outcomes and their relationship to salary progressionin an anonymised format.

The School inspection handbook states that ‘Ofsted does not expect schools toprovide specific details of the pay grade of individual teachers who are observedduring inspection’.18

The School inspection handbook states that Ofsted does not grade individuallessons or award a grade for the quality of teaching or outcomes of individuallessons visited. It also states that Ofsted ‘does not expect schools to use the Ofstedevaluation schedule to grade teaching or individual lessons.’19

When the lead inspector meets the headteacher at the start of inspection, they mustensure that the headteacher is aware that Ofsted’s evidence from observations ofteaching and learning must not be used as evidence in capability/disciplinaryproceedings or for the purposes of performance management.20

The NASUWT has issued detailed advice on performance management/appraisal. This is also available on the NASUWT website:www.nasuwt.org.uk/performancemanagement. This makes it clear that it isinappropriate for schools to use ‘Ofsted grades’ to assess teachers’ performancein observed lessons or to judge teachers’ performance in performancemanagement/appraisal records.

The NASUWT’s national action short of strike action instructions set out clearexpectations about the pay and performance management practices that schoolsshould adopt. Teachers should raise any concerns about performance managementpractices with the school and, if necessary, seek advice and guidance from theNASUWT. The action instruction can be found at www.nasuwt.org.uk/industrialaction.

Continuing professional developmentThe grade descriptors for outstanding leadership and management include:‘Leaders use high quality professional development to encourage, challenge andsupport teachers’ improvement.’21 Inspectors will also consider the quality of CPDfor teachers at the start of and throughout their careers.

A review of international evidence about effective CPD highlights key features ofeffective CPD.22 These include:

23

18 Ofsted, School inspection handbook – section 5, paragraph 29, page 12.19 Ibid, paragraph 29, page 12.20 Ibid, paragraph 60, page 23, eighth bullet point.21 Ibid, page 45.22 Teacher Development Trust (June 2015), Developing Great Teaching: Lessons for the international reviews into

effective professional development.

• most effective CPD lasts at least two terms and usually more than a year;

• the CPD is relevant to teachers’ day-to-day experiences;

• the CPD includes explicit discussion about how to translate the content intothe classroom and teachers are able to experiment in the classroom in orderto successfully implement what they have learned; and

• there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The review found that didactic models of CPD, where facilitators simply tell teacherswhat to do or provide materials without giving participants opportunities to developskills and inquire into their impact on pupil learning do not work. Also, CPD whichdoes not have a strong focus on aspiration for students and assess the impact ofchanges to teacher practices on pupil learning was found to be ineffective.

Teachers should be able to access their entitlement to CPD within the working day.The CPD provided should be high quality and enable teachers to develop theirprofessional knowledge, skills and understanding.

Teachers’ pay progressionIt is essential that information about the pay and pay progression of individualnamed teachers is not disclosed to inspection teams. Such information isconfidential and only anonymised data on the pay profile of teachers at a schoolor rates of pay progression may be requested by inspection teams.

Whilst Ofsted may inspect the robustness of a school’s pay and performancemanagement arrangements, inspection teams do not have any powers todetermine the nature of a school’s policies in respect of teachers’ pay orperformance management. This is a matter for the school to determine.

The NASUWT has issued detailed advice and guidance on teachers’ pay,including establishing a pay policy. This information is available atwww.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/pay-pensions/pay-policies-checklists.html.

School self-evaluationSchools are expected to identify and implement their own approaches to self-evaluation. Inspectors will ask for a summary of any self-evaluation or equivalentat the start of the inspection.

The School inspection handbook states that ‘Ofsted does not require self-evaluation to be provided in a specific format. Any assessment that is providedshould be part of the school’s business processes and not generated solely forinspection purposes’.23

Self-evaluation should build from the principle that teachers are professionals andshould be trusted. School leaders should ensure that their school self-evaluationpractice draws together school improvement planning, performance managementand audit, and that it supports effective teaching and learning.

24

23 Ofsted, School inspection handbook – section 5, paragraph 29, page 12.

The School inspection handbook makes it clear that Ofsted does not requireschools to provide inspectors with detailed lesson plans, specify how planningshould be set out.24 Mock inspections are unnecessary, add to workload burdensand place staff under considerable pressure. The NASUWT’s action short of strikeaction instructions states that members should not participate in mock inspectionscommissioned by the school, sponsor, provider or local authority.Further information about the action instructions is available atwww.nasuwt.org.uk/industrialaction.

The NASUWT will support teachers to resist moves to introduce burdensomeplanning processes, such as providing detailed lesson plans for each lesson orself-evaluation systems that operate at departmental level and simply as a papertrail for inspections.

School self-evaluation should assess the extent to which teachers, the NASUWTand other workforce unions are engaged in wider planning and decision-makingwithin the school. It should also make explicit reference to teachers’ contractualprovisions and include an evaluation of teachers’ pay and pay progression and theequality impact of the policy. Further, it should include an evaluation of the impactof all school policies on workload and working hours.

Lesson observationAt the beginning of inspection, the lead inspector will share the rationale for lessonobservations with the headteacher. The lead inspector should invite theheadteacher/senior staff to participate in joint lesson observations and ascertainwhether there are reasons why particular teachers should not be observed, forexample where they are subject to capability procedures. The lead inspector must‘ensure that the headteacher is aware that Ofsted’s evidence from observations ofteaching and learning, whether joint or otherwise, must not be used as evidence incapability/disciplinary proceedings or for the purposes of performancemanagement.’25

Inspectors may use a range of strategies for observations, including short visits toa number of lessons spending a few minutes in each lesson, short observations ofsmall group teaching, observing learning in lessons, and joining a class or specificgroup of pupils as they go from lesson to lesson.

‘Inspectors must not provide an overall grade (either numerically or in words) forthe lesson or the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. The headteacher isresponsible for advising staff that the feedback will not be used by the school forperformance management purposes; it is provided in confidence’.26

Teachers cannot refuse to be observed. The NASUWT advises school leaders toseek to agree with teachers in advance of inspection a position on joint inspection.

25

24 Ibid, paragraph 29, page 12.25 Ibid, paragraph 60, page 23.26 Ibid, paragraph 69.

In particular, school leaders should seek to identify teachers who do not want tobe observed jointly by Ofsted and a school leader.

Ofsted feedback, including feedback from joint observations, must not be used tomake judgements about the performance of an individual teacher. Teachers shouldcontact the NASUWT for advice and support if they are aware that this is happeningin their school.

The School inspection handbook makes it clear that inspectors should always tryto give feedback to teachers who have been observed. This may be one-to-one orto a group of teachers. Teachers should contact the NASUWT if they have evidencethat an inspector is not offering feedback to teachers.

Lesson observations that are not part of an inspectionTeachers should follow the NASUWT national action instructions guidance onlesson observation: www.nasuwt.org.uk/news/industrial-action/england.html.

The School inspection handbook makes it clear that Ofsted does not gradeindividual lessons, does not award a grade for the quality of teaching, and doesnot expect schools to use the Ofsted evaluation schedule to grade teaching orindividual lessons.27 It is not appropriate for lessons to be graded. The focus oflesson observations should be on identifying strengths and on helping teachers toimprove their practice.

There is evidence that Ofsted inspection is being used by schools to trigger orjustify increased use of lesson observation. There should be no increase in thenumber of lesson observations in schools to satisfy inspection.

Whilst schools need to respond to the recommendations arising from theinspection, this should not result in a school automatically initiating additionallesson observations as part of their post-Ofsted follow-up arrangements.

Learning walks and drop-insThe NASUWT regards ‘learning walks’ and pupil tracking to be lesson observations.Teachers should only be observed in accordance with the provisions agreed in theirperformance management planning statement/appraisal report.

A headteacher has a duty to evaluate the standards of teaching and learning and mayuse ‘drop-ins’ to inform their monitoring of the quality of learning. However, if theheadteacher focuses on the teacher or makes notes on the teacher’s performance oruses the visit for any other purpose, the visit would be classed as a lesson observation.

Drop-ins and learning walks are specifically covered by the NASUWT nationalaction instructions and members should check that policy and practice in theirschool is consistent with these instructions. The instructions are available at:www.nasuwt.org.uk/news/industrial-action/england.html.

26

27 Ibid, paragraph 29, page 12.

Staff attendance during inspectionA member of staff, including the headteacher, must not be expected or asked tocome into school if the inspection takes place on a day when they do not normallywork, for example because they work part-time or do a job share. However, if themember of staff agrees to come to work, they should be paid for the additionaltime that they are in school.

Inspector interviews with staffInspectors will interview staff as part of the evidence-gathering process. Staff cannotrefuse to be interviewed. However, teachers are advised to raise concerns with theheadteacher if an inspector seeks to conduct an interview outside of directed timeor in a way that undermines contractual provisions (for example, the right to a lunchbreak). In such instances, the headteacher should take the matter up with the leadinspector, in the first instance, or contact the Ofsted helpline if the issue is notresolved. Teachers should also raise concerns about such practice with the NASUWT.

Preparation for inspectionThe NASUWT continues to receive reports that some schools are requiring teachersto prepare evidence for inspection. These include requiring teachers to produceclassroom folders containing evidence such as seating plans, lesson plans anddetailed data about pupils’ performance and progress in lessons. Ofsted makes itclear that it does not require such evidence. Inspectors will consider theeffectiveness and impact of the school’s arrangements for planning, assessmentand evaluation. Approaches that create unnecessary workload burdens forteachers are unacceptable and have a detrimental impact on teachers’ health andwellbeing and pupil outcomes in the long term. Teachers should contact theNASUWT if they have concerns about practice in their school.

Myths and facts about inspection – Clarification for schoolsThe NASUWT has raised concerns with Ofsted that some schools use the threatof inspection to justify working and management practices that undermineteachers’ professionalism and create unnecessary workload and bureaucracy. Asa result of these interventions, Ofsted worked with the NASUWT and produced amyths-busting document, clarifying what Ofsted does and does not expect to seein inspection. The ‘Clarification for schools’ has now been incorporated into theSchools inspection handbook.28

Teachers should read the Clarification and contact the NASUWT if they haveconcerns that their school is not complying.

Text of the Clarification, taken from the Inspection handbook, is included inAppendix 2 of this guidance.

27

28 Ofsted, School inspection handbook – section 5, paragraph 29.

AssessmentSchools are free to establish their own approach to assessment. Inspectors willnot expect to see a particular system of assessment in place.

Inspectors will evaluate how well assessment information is gathered from lookingat what pupils already know, understand and can do. They will also evaluate howassessment information is used to plan appropriate teaching and learningstrategies, including identifying pupils who are falling behind in their learning orwho need additional support to make good progress and achieve well.

Inspectors will gather evidence by observing lessons, talking to pupils about theirwork, scrutinising work, and assessing school leaders’ evaluation of teaching andits impact on learning. They will also consider how well teachers use assessmentto establish pupils’ starting points, and how teachers assess, test and modify theirteaching so that pupils achieve their potential year on year and by the end of a keystage. Further, inspectors will judge how well assessment draws on a range ofevidence about what pupils know, understand and can do, and the extent to whichteachers make consistent judgements about pupils’ progress and attainment withina subject, across a year group and between year groups, as appropriate.

The School inspection handbook makes it clear that Ofsted does not expect to seeany specific frequency, type or volume of marking and feedback.29 It also makes itclear that Ofsted does not expect to see a particular frequency or quantity of workin pupils’ books and folders.30 Further, the School inspection handbook makes itclear that Ofsted does not expect to see any written record of oral feedbackprovided to pupils by teachers.31

If inspectors identify marking as an area for improvement, their recommendationsfor action should not drive unnecessary workload for teachers.32

Teachers should contact the NASUWT if inspectors expect the school to adoptparticular approaches to assessment or if the threat of Ofsted inspection is usedto introduce workload intensive and other inappropriate systems of and/orapproaches to assessment in their school.

The NASUWT has issued specific action short of strike action on marking to protectmembers from inappropriate marking, assessment and feedback policies. Thisinstruction is accompanied by advice and guidance on these issues. The instructionsand guidance can be accessed at: www.nasuwt.org.uk/industrialaction.

Special educational needs (SEN) and inspectionInspectors will consider the progress of pupils with SEN and/or disabilities in relationto the progress of pupils nationally with similar starting points. They will also examinethe impact of funded support on closing any gaps in progress and attainment.33

28

29 Ibid, paragraph 29, page 12, ‘Pupils’ Work’, second bullet point.30 Ibid, paragraph 29, page 12, ‘Pupils’ Work’, first bullet point.31 Ibid, paragraph 29, page 13, ‘Pupils’ Work’, third bullet point.32 Ibid, paragraph 29, page 13, ‘Pupils’ Work’, fourth bullet point.33 Ibid, paragraph 194.

Ofsted’s expectation is that the identification of SEN and/or disabilities leads toadditional or different arrangements being made for the pupil. Ofsted’s expectationis that this will result in improvement in progress.34

Inspectors will consider whether there are any differences between the progressand attainment of pupils in resource-based provision and those in the main schoolwith similar starting points.35 Inspectors will take into account the impact that alarge number of pupils in resource-based provision might have on published dataon progress and attainment for the whole school.36

For groups of pupils whose cognitive ability is such that their attainment is unlikelyever to rise above ‘low’, the judgement on outcomes will be based on an evaluationof the pupils’ learning and progress relative to their starting points at particular agesand any assessment measures the school holds. Evaluations should not takeaccount of such pupils’ attainment compared with that of other pupils.37

Feedback from members working as special educational needs co-ordinators(SENCOs) suggests that the quality of SEN-related inspection judgements dependson whether the inspection team includes an SEN specialist. This is more likely tobe a problem for mainstream schools that are inclusive and have a large numberof pupils with SEN and disabilities. However, inspectors of special schools may notnecessarily have expertise in the school’s particular area of SEN.

Teachers should contact the NASUWT if they believe that Ofsted inspectors do nottake appropriate account of the school’s work to support pupils with SEN anddisabilities, particularly if this has an adverse impact on the school’s inspectionjudgement.

The NASUWT is extremely concerned that cuts to public services mean thatschools are not able to access the support that will enable them to meet the needsof some pupils with SEN and disabilities. Teachers should report to the NASUWTany problems that the school encounters in accessing external support for pupilswith SEN and disabilities.

As a result of the NASUWT’s engagement with the Department for Education (DfE)in the programme of talks following the Union’s industrial action campaign, a list ofmyths and facts about the SEN reforms has been published. This list may be helpfulto members in challenging inappropriate practices in their school. The documentcan be accessed at: www.nasuwt.org.uk/sen.

Value Added (VA) measures and school contextInspectors will consider the progress and attainment of individual pupils and groupsof pupils. Where it is appropriate to do so, inspectors will seek to draw inferencesabout group-level data by comparing the data with national rates of progress and

29

34 Ibid, paragraph 194.35 Ibid, paragraph 195.36 Ibid, paragraph 195.37 Ibid, paragraph 196.

attainment. However, Ofsted states that inspectors must treat published data forsmall groups of children with caution.38 Ofsted also states that evaluations of pupilswhose cognitive ability is only ever likely to be low should not take account of theirattainment compared with that of other pupils.39

Teachers should monitor how inspection teams interpret a school’s context. It willbe particularly important to monitor how inspectors interpret the progress andperformance of pupils with SEN and disabilities, and performance and progress inschools with a highly mobile pupil population. Teachers should contact the NASUWTif they believe that inspectors have failed to take appropriate account of the school’scontext and this has an adverse impact on how the school is judged in the inspection.

Inspection of a broad and balanced curriculumWhen forming a judgement about the effectiveness of leadership and management,inspectors will consider the design, implementation and evaluation of thecurriculum to ensure breadth and balance.40 They will also consider how the schoolsupports the formal curriculum with extra-curricular opportunities to extend theirknowledge and understanding and improve their skills in a range of artistic, creativeand sporting activities.41

Ofsted is undertaking a review of the breadth and balance of the curriculum. HMCI’scommentary on the initial findings of the review identify a narrowing of the primarycurriculum at the end of KS2 in some schools, some leaders misunderstanding thepurpose of KS3 and the new GCSE assessment criteria, while in some secondaryschools the intended curriculum for some lower attaining pupils is often associatedwith the qualifications that count in league tables and not with other knowledgethey should be acquiring.42

Schools should ensure that all children receive a curriculum offer that is broad,balanced and appropriate. Further, schools should monitor proposals for curriculumchanges very closely, looking, in particular, at their likely impact on jobs and on thequality, breadth and relevance of the curriculum offer for all pupils and for groupsof pupils.

Teachers should challenge approaches to school improvement that focus narrowlyon core subjects at the expense of a broad and balanced curriculum and can usethe Ofsted inspection framework to support their arguments.

Inspecting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC)developmentWhen forming a judgement about the overall effectiveness of the school, inspectors

30

38 Ibid, paragraph 185.39 Ibid, paragraph 196.40 Ibid, paragraph 148, fifth bullet point.41 Ibid, paragraph 148, sixth bullet point.42 HMCI’s commentary: recent primary and secondary curriculum research, published 11 October 2017. Downloaded

from www.gov.uk/government/speeches/hmcis-commentary-october-2017 (Accessed 3 November 2017).

will evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the school’s provision for pupils’spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development.

The School inspection handbook defines SMSC development as follows:

Spiritual development of pupils shown by their:

• ability to be reflective about their own beliefs, religious or otherwise, that informtheir perspective on life and their interest in and respect for different people’sfaiths, feelings and values;

• sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others andthe world around them;

• use of imagination and creativity in their learning;

• willingness to reflect on their experiences.43

Moral development of pupils shown by their:

• ability to recognise the difference between right and wrong, readily apply thisunderstanding in their own lives and, in so doing, respect the civil and criminallaw of England;

• understanding of the consequences of their behaviour and actions;

• interest in investigating and offering reasoned views about moral and ethical issues,and ability to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others on these issues.44

Social development of pupils shown by their:

• use of a range of social skills in different contexts, including working andsocialising with pupils from different religious, ethnic and socio-economicbackgrounds;

• willingness to participate in a variety of communities and social settings,including by volunteering, co-operating well with others and being able toresolve conflicts effectively;

• acceptance and engagement with the fundamental British values of democracy,the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those withdifferent faiths and beliefs; they develop and demonstrate skills and attitudesthat will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life inmodern Britain.45

Cultural development of pupils shown by their:

• understanding and appreciation of the wide range of cultural influences thathave shaped their own heritage and that of others;

• understanding and appreciation of the range of different cultures within schooland further afield as an essential element of their preparation for life in modernBritain;

31

43 Ofsted, School inspection handbook – section 5, paragraph 143.44 Ibid, paragraph 144.45 Ibid, paragraph 145.

• knowledge of Britain's democratic parliamentary system and its central role inshaping our history and values, and in continuing to develop Britain;

• willingness to participate in and respond positively to artistic, sporting andcultural opportunities;

• interest in exploring, improving understanding of and showing respect fordifferent faiths and cultural diversity, and the extent to which they understand,accept, respect and celebrate diversity, as shown by their tolerance andattitudes towards different religious, ethnic and socio-economic groups in thelocal, national and global communities.46

The grade descriptors for leadership and management that is judged ‘outstanding’includes a descriptor about pupils’ SMSC. This says that pupils’ SMSC and, withinthis, the promotion of fundamental British values, are at the heart of the school’swork.47

Schools should ensure that they address all areas of pupils’ SMSC developmentand that this is reflected across the whole curriculum.

Promoting fundamental British values, preventing radicalisationand extremismInspectors will consider the effectiveness and impact of a school’s provision forpupils’ SMSC development. In doing this, they should consider how well the schoolprepares pupils for ‘life in modern Britain’ and ‘actively promotes the fundamentalBritish values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respectand tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith’.48

Inspectors will also consider the effectiveness of leaders’ and governors’ work ‘toraise awareness and keep pupils safe from the dangers of abuse, sexualexploitation, radicalisation and extremism, and what they do when they suspectthat pupils are vulnerable to these issues.’49

Further, inspectors will consider ‘how well leaders and governors promote all formsof equality and foster greater understanding of and respect for people of all faiths(and those of no faith), races, genders, ages, disability and sexual orientations (andother groups with protected characteristics) through their words, actions andinfluence with the schools and more widely in the community’.50

Guidance in the School inspection handbook indicates that inspectors should considera school’s actions to promote fundamental British values and protect pupils fromextremism and radicalisation as part of the school’s broader work to promote equality,foster good relations between groups and with communities, and safeguard pupils.

32

46 Ibid, paragraph 146.47 Ibid, page 46.48 Ibid, paragraph 148, eighth bullet.49 Ibid, final bullet.50 Ibid, sixteenth bullet.

The promotion of fundamental British values forms part of the Government’sPrevent strategy.

The NASUWT has a dedicated webpage on issues associated with the prevention ofextremism in schools. The Union has also published materials to help schools promoteuniversal values. These resources can be accessed at: www.nasuwt.org.uk/prevent.

Teachers should contact the NASUWT if they have particular concerns about policyor practice in the school or if they have concerns about the way in which inspectorscover these issues when they inspect the school.

Inspecting compliance with the Equality Act 2010, including thepublic sector equality duty (PSED)Inspectors will make judgements about how effectively a school identifies andaddresses equality matters across all areas of school life. This includes makingjudgements about the extent to which the school is complying with the PSED.

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance makes it clear that schoolsneed to assess the impact on equality of school policies and practices in order tocomply with the general equality duty. The guidance says that the general equalityduty does not specify how assessments should be undertaken. However, case lawfrom the previous duties indicates that assessments should be done before decisionsare made, and that a written record is useful for demonstrating compliance.51

Schools should follow the EHRC guidance on the assessment of equality impact.Schools will only be able to able to do this effectively if they collect equalityinformation as a matter of course and if the collection and analysis of equalityinformation is part of standard school arrangements and procedures. Schoolleaders and managers should draw on this evidence and ensure that equalitymatters are considered explicitly as part of general planning and decision-makingacross all school activities. The school improvement plan should provide evidencethat the school is addressing equality matters systematically across all activities.

Ofsted has told the NASUWT that equality matters relating to staff should be pickedup under leadership and management. Research, including that commissioned bythe NASUWT,52 shows that bullying and harassment, including prejudice-relatedbullying and harassment, are significant issues for teachers and that some groupsof teachers, such as women, disabled, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT),black and minority ethnic (BME), encounter major barriers throughout their teachingcareers. Schools should raise any specific concerns about equality mattersaffecting staff with inspectors. Teachers should contact the NASUWT if they believethat inspectors do not take their concerns seriously.

33

51 www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-schools-england.(Accessed 3 November 2017).

52 For example: PRCI (2011), The experience of prejudice-related bullying amongst teachers and headteachers in schools,NASUWT; McNamara, Rednal, Professor Olwen et al. (2008), No Job for a Woman? The Impact of Gender in SchoolLeadership; and McNamara, Professor Olwen et al. (2009), The leadership aspirations of black and minority ethnicteachers, NASUWT, Rednal, and National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services, Nottingham.

SafeguardingInspectors will consider how well leaders and managers have created a culture ofvigilance where children’s and learners’ welfare is promoted and timely andappropriate safeguarding action is taken. They should evaluate how well statutoryresponsibilities are fulfilled and whether staff act promptly and appropriately to addresssafeguarding issues.53 Inspectors will use a range of evidence to form a judgement,including, for example, relevant policies and procedures, case studies, and askingindividual staff how they would deal with a particular safeguarding situation.

School leaders and managers should ensure that safeguarding policies andprocedures are communicated to all staff, as well as to pupils, parents/carers andvisitors to the school, and that staff, pupils, parents and visitors understand thesepolicies and procedures. Staff should receive appropriate safeguarding training,including refresher training. School leaders and managers should monitor theimplementation of safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure that they arebeing applied consistently.

The NASUWT has a dedicated webpage that covers the prevention of extremism,protection from radicalisation, and the promotion of fundamental British values inschools. This can be accessed at: www.nasuwt.org.uk/prevent.

Staff behaviour policyThe DfE’s Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance states that all membersof school staff should be aware of the systems within their institution which supportsafeguarding, including the child protection policy, the staff behaviour policy, andthe role of the designated safeguarding lead.54 However, this does not mean thatthe school should have a separate staff behaviour policy or a staff code of conduct.

Inspectors will want to know how schools have ensured that staff know what isexpected of them and may ask to see how this is covered. However, they shouldnot give the impression that this needs to be a single policy document or in theform of a code of conduct. Teachers should contact the NASUWT if an inspectorrequests the staff behaviour policy to be provided in a particular format.

Staff viewsStaff have a significant contribution to make to the inspection process andinspectors should seek and take account of their views. The NASUWTrecommends that teachers complete the online questionnaire.

Pupils’ viewsWhilst Ofsted will look for evidence about how the school consults and takes accountof the views and experiences of pupils, this does not mean that schools should adopt

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53 Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings (August 2016). Available at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/inspecting-safeguarding-in-early-years-education-and-skills-from-september-2015/inspecting-safeguarding-in-early-years-education-and-skills-settings. (Downloaded 3 November 2017).

54 Department for Education (September 2016), Keeping Children Safe in Education: Statutory Guidance for Schoolsand Colleges.

practices where pupils are placed in roles where they can question and makejudgements about their teachers and school leaders. It is totally inappropriate forpupils to undertake lesson observations, sit on teacher recruitment panels or beinvolved in any other activity that enables them to question the professional integrityor judgement of the teacher or leader. Teachers should challenge the developmentof such practice and contact the NASUWT if they have evidence that inspectors areendorsing such practice or encouraging the school to adopt such practice.

Teachers should refer to the NASUWT’s national action instructions and the Union’sguidance on student voice for further information on how schools should addresspupils’ views. This can be found at www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/in-the-classroom/children-and-young-people/student-voice.html.

Parent ViewParent View is Ofsted’s main vehicle for gathering the views of parents. It willinclude an additional free-text box in the period from when the school is notifiedabout the inspection until midday on the second day of a full inspection. This is toallow parents to add additional comments about the school.

Ofsted has made it clear that the free-text box in Parent View will not become partof the standard Parent View questions and will only operate for the duration of aninspection. This is, at least in part, due to Ofsted wanting to ensure that parentsdo not use the free-text box to raise concerns about safeguarding and othersignificant issues.

The NASUWT is concerned that Parent View could be open to misuse and providesvery limited evidence about parents’ views of a school. For example, Ofsted doesnot check whether a user is genuinely a parent of a pupil at a particular school.Also, parents who have issues or who hold a grudge against a school are muchmore likely to complete the survey than other parents. Parents could encouragetheir friends and relatives to register as parents and write negative comments aboutthe school or individual members of staff.

Schools should collect evidence about parents’ views about the school as part oftheir routine work to engage with parents/carers and involve them in the life of theschool. Schools should provide inspectors with evidence about how parents areconsulted and involved in decision-making and the results of any analyses ofparents’ views. Such evidence may help to counter negative comments made byparents on Parent View.

Teachers should contact the NASUWT if they have concerns that the school isusing parents’ views inappropriately.

Inspection of the governing body/committee/board/overarchingbodyInspectors will:

• evaluate how effectively governors work with leaders to communicate the vision,ethos and strategic direction of the school and the ambition for the school;

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• evaluate the extent to which governors provide a balance of challenge andsupport to school leaders, including understanding the strengths and areas forimprovement;

• understand how the school makes decisions about teachers’ salaryprogression and performance;

• performance manage the headteacher rigorously;• understand the impact of teaching, learning and assessment on the progress

of pupils currently in the school;• ensure that assessment information from leaders provides governors with

sufficient and accurate information to ask probing questions about outcomesfor pupils;

• ensure that the school’s finances are properly managed and evaluate how wellthe school is using the pupil premium, SEN funding and other funding; and

• ensure that the school’s finances are transparent and accountable, includingin the recruitment of staff, governance structures, attendance at meetings andcontact with parents.55

Inspectors will always seek to meet with governors or members of the school’slocal board, committee or other authority during the course of inspection.

Inspectors will make a judgement about the effectiveness of the governing bodyas part of the judgement about the effectiveness of leadership and management.In the case of schools that are co-operating in groups, federations or chains, withan overarching board and chief executive, inspectors will seek evidence about theimpact of the overarching board and its staff, as well as the school’s governingbody, board or committee.

If governance is judged to be weak, inspectors will recommend an external reviewof governance. It is for the school to decide how the review will take place and tocommission and pay for the review. Inspectors will judge the impact of the reviewwhen the school is next inspected.

The governors’ role is a strategic one and governors should not become involvedin the day-to-day running of the school. Teachers should contact the NASUWT ifthe governing body seeks to work in this way or if particular problems occur in theirschool.

Commenting on the draft inspection reportSchools that have a full inspection will receive an inspection report.

Although time is short to consider the draft, it is good practice for the headteacherto try to ensure that all members of staff are able to comment on it. This isparticularly important if a member of staff might be identifiable in the reportbecause, for example, they are the only teacher in that subject or the head of aparticular department.

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55 Ofsted, School inspection handbook – section 5, paragraph 155.

If feedback is not provided by inspectors during the course of the inspection, thenthe headteacher should raise concerns with the lead inspector. If this is notpossible, then the headteacher should contact Ofsted’s inspection helpline(telephone 0300 123 1231).

Schools graded ‘inadequate’Maintained schools that are judged ‘inadequate’ will be subject to an academyorder and forced to become an academy. Staff working in such schools may beparticularly vulnerable and it will be important to contact the NASUWT immediatelyfor advice and support.

Staff in all schools judged ‘inadequate’ can find themselves under immensepressure and stress. School managers and/or external agencies may seek tointroduce measures that increase workload burdens on staff. This may take theform of additional meetings, increased lesson observation and monitoring,complete reviews of school policies and the introduction of bureaucraticprocedures. Depending on the reasons for a school being judged ‘inadequate’,some staff may find that the school begins competence procedures.

Members should contact the NASUWT immediately for advice and support if theschool is deemed to be ‘failing’.

It is important that teachers provide regular feedback to the NASUWT whereschools are experiencing problems as a result of being placed in special measuresor issued with a notice to improve.

Schools graded ‘requires improvement’The NASUWT is extremely concerned about the pressure placed on schools todemonstrate rapid improvement as a result of a ‘requires improvement’ judgement.This combined with the constant threat that Ofsted could turn up at the schoolunannounced or for a monitoring visit, means that school leaders may seek tointroduce burdensome and bureaucratic systems for monitoring performance andprogress.

The NASUWT is further concerned that schools in the ‘requires improvement’category may come under considerable pressure to implement a narrow curriculum,focused on core subjects, or adopt particular approaches to assessment.

Teachers should contact the NASUWT if their school is introducing bureaucraticand burdensome systems, is adopting punitive or other inappropriate approachesto management, or if they are concerned about the curriculum offer and/orassessment and monitoring arrangements.

ConfidentialityThe inspection report should not identify individual members of staff at a school.

Ofsted will not release inspectors’ notes or other inspection evidence to a thirdparty and use the exemptions that apply under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Although individuals should not be identified, it is often possible to identify anindividual, most notably the headteacher or a teacher who has sole responsibilityfor a particular subject or area because of references to this role throughout theinspection report. If a reference in the report is inappropriate, it should be raisedwith the NASUWT.

Teachers need to be alert to the possibility that issues may arise once a report hasbeen published. For example, parents, the governing body or others within theschool or the local media may use the information contained in the report againsta particular member of staff. Teachers should seek to anticipate potential problems.However, some problems may not be anticipated early enough. It is important tocontact the NASUWT as soon as an issue becomes apparent.

Complaints to Ofsted from parentsParents have the right to complain about schools to Ofsted, and Ofsted has thepower to investigate these complaints. Ofsted’s powers relate to complaints aboutthe whole school rather than complaints involving individual children. Generally,the parent will be expected to have raised their concerns with the school beforeapproaching Ofsted. The sort of complaints that Ofsted might investigate includethe school not providing a good enough education, pupils not achieving as muchas they should or their different needs not being met, the school not being well ledor managed, or pupils’ safety being neglected.

If Ofsted believes that the complaint is well founded, it could decide to inspect theschool. An immediate inspection only occurs if the complaint is very serious. Inother circumstances, the information may be kept on file and made available to theinspection team when the school is next inspected.

Whilst it may be appropriate for Ofsted to inspect a school where very seriouscomplaints have been made, the NASUWT is concerned that Ofsted may keepinformation about less serious complaints on file and use the information when theschool is next inspected. The NASUWT would like to hear from teachers if acomplaint has been made against the school and the complaint is picked up in asubsequent inspection.

A complaint about a teacher is not a ‘qualifying complaint’. If a qualifying complaintalso includes a complaint about an individual teacher, then Ofsted should removethe name of the teacher. However, teachers need to remain vigilant. If they suspectthat they are implicated in a complaint, they should contact the NASUWT for adviceand support.

Complaints about inspectionIf teachers have a complaint about an inspection, including the way in which theinspection was carried out, then they should notify the NASUWT immediately,outlining their concerns.

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Appendix 1: Further information about inspection

The following Ofsted documents provide information about the inspection process,including the descriptors that inspectors use to guide their inspection judgements,and the procedures for conducting inspections:

• The common inspection framework: education, skills and early years, Ofsted,August 2015.

• School inspection handbook: Handbook for inspecting schools in Englandunder section 5 of the Education Act 2005, Ofsted, October 2017.

• Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings: Guidancefor inspectors undertaking inspection under the common inspection framework,Ofsted, August 2016.

• School inspection handbook – section 8: Handbook for inspecting schools inEngland under section 8 of the Education Act 2005, Ofsted, October 2017.

• Taking Control of your Performance Management: A practical guide forteachers, NASUWT. (A copy of the guide has been sent to every member.Members can obtain further copies by contacting the NASUWT.)

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Appendix 2: Clarification for schools56

Clarification for schools

The information below serves to confirm facts about the requirements of Ofstedand to dispel myths about inspection that can result in unnecessary workloads inschools. It is intended to highlight specific practices that are not required by Ofsted.Inspectors must not advocate a particular method of planning, teaching orassessment. It is up to schools themselves to determine their practices and forleadership teams to justify these on their own merits rather than by reference tothis inspection handbook.

Lesson planning • Ofsted does not require schools to provide individual lesson plans to

inspectors. Equally, Ofsted does not require schools to provide previous lessonplans.

• Ofsted does not specify how planning should be set out, the length of time itshould take or the amount of detail it should contain. Inspectors are interestedin the effectiveness of planning rather than the form it takes.

• Ofsted does not expect tutor groups/form time to include literacy, numeracyor other learning sessions. Schools can use form time as they wish.

Self-evaluation • Ofsted does not require self-evaluation to be graded or provided in a specific

format. Any assessment that is provided should be part of the school’sbusiness processes and not generated solely for inspection purposes.

Grading of lessons• Ofsted does not award a grade for the quality of teaching or outcomes in the

individual lessons visited. Inspectors do not grade individual lessons. Ofsteddoes not expect schools to use the Ofsted evaluation schedule to gradeteaching or individual lessons.

Lesson observations • Ofsted does not require schools to undertake a specified amount of lesson

observation.

• Ofsted does not expect schools to provide specific details of the pay grade ofindividual teachers who are observed during inspection.

Pupils’ work• Ofsted does not expect to see a particular frequency or quantity of work in

pupils’ books or folders. Ofsted recognises that the amount of work in booksand folders will depend on the subject being studied and the age and ability ofthe pupils.

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56 Text from School inspection handbook: Handbook for inspection schools in England under section 5 of the EducationAct 2005, paragraph 29.

• Ofsted recognises that marking and feedback to pupils, both written and oral,are important aspects of assessment. However, Ofsted does not expect to seeany specific frequency, type or volume of marking and feedback; these are forthe school to decide through its assessment policy. Marking and feedbackshould be consistent with that policy, which may cater for different subjectsand different age groups of pupils in different ways, in order to be effective andefficient in promoting learning.

• While inspectors will consider how written and oral feedback is used to promotelearning, Ofsted does not expect to see any written record of oral feedbackprovided to pupils by teachers.

• If it is necessary for inspectors to identify marking as an area for improvementfor a school, they will pay careful attention to the way recommendations arewritten to ensure that these do not drive unnecessary workload for teachers.

Evidence for inspection • Ofsted does not expect schools to provide evidence for inspection beyond that

set out in this inspection handbook.

• Ofsted will take a range of evidence into account when making judgements,including published performance data, the school’s in-year performanceinformation and work in pupils’ books and folders, including that held inelectronic form. However, unnecessary or extensive collections of markedpupils’ work are not required for inspection.

• Ofsted does not expect performance and pupil-tracking information to bepresented in a particular format. Such information should be provided toinspectors in the format that the school would ordinarily use to monitor theprogress of pupils in that school.

• Ofsted does not require teachers to undertake additional work or to ask pupilsto undertake work specifically for the inspection.

• Ofsted will usually expect to see evidence of the monitoring of teaching andlearning and its link to teachers’ performance management and the teachers’standards, but this should be the information that the school uses routinely andnot additional evidence generated for inspection.

• Ofsted does not require schools to provide evidence for each teacher for eachof the bulleted sub-headings in the teachers’ standards.20

• Ofsted does not expect to see photographic evidence of pupil’s work. Ofstedis very aware of teachers’ workload and inspectors are happy to speak to pupilsduring an inspection about what they have learned.

• Ofsted does not require schools to predict their progress scores. It isimpossible to predict progress as test results are compared nationally and thiscannot be done until after the tests.

• Ofsted does not require schools to hold onto books and other examples ofpupils’ work for pupils who left school the previous year.

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• Inspectors are not required to routinely check personnel files, but may do so inspecific cases as part of looking at schools’ procedures for checking thesuitability of employees to work with children.

• There is no requirement for multi-academy trusts to maintain single centralrecords for all staff. Each academy school should maintain a single centralrecord. Where the multi-academy trust employs staff who are not assigned toan individual academy, these employees must be recorded on the single centralrecord for the multi-academy trust, along with all others employed by the multi-academy trust and trustees.

Statutory provisions • Ofsted will report on any failure to comply with statutory arrangements,

including those relating to the workforce, where these form part of theinspection framework and evaluation schedule (Part 2 of the handbook).

Leadership and governance • As many governors or trustees as possible are invited to meet inspectors during

an inspection.

• For academies, inspectors meet those directly responsible for managementand governance, including the CEO/their delegate (or equivalent), the chair ofthe board of trustees and other trustees.

• An inspector may talk to the chair of governors by telephone if s/he is unableto attend a face-to-face meeting with the inspector in school.

• For academies, the headteacher and CEO/their delegate (or equivalent) areinvited to observe the inspectors’ final team meeting.

• All those responsible for governance need to know the outcome of theinspection as soon as possible. Individual governor representatives must keepthe outcomes confidential until the school has received the final inspectionreport.

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Tel: 03330 145550

E-mail: advice@mail.nasuwt.org.uk

Website: www.nasuwt.org.uk

NASUWTThe Teachers’ Union

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