8 minute read
School inspections - what do they really mean?
I have been at the chalk face of being inspected for over 20 years now, and have come to learn that school inspections always cause so much division, contention and debate, but I want to share with you how they work, & what they measure.
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Ten years ago, I was an Assistant Principal, in one of the largest schools in Europe, let alone the UK, that gained Ofsted’s prestigious ‘Outstanding’ inspection grade. Eleven years prior to this time, I had joined this same school as a junior teacher that was in the bottom 5% of all schools in the UK.
I remember being offered the position and pausing; but it was my professor from university, Gareth Stratton, who gave me some very kind words about how schools like this needed youngsters like myself, to make changes. Those words are as fresh to me today as they were then, and ones I remind myself of how I can now drive success and change in my own school when recruiting newly qualified teachers: looking to build capacity for the future.
The school was in ‘Special Measures,’ the worst grade possible; in fact it was worse than this, as we were served ‘Notice to Improve’. This meant that the inspectorate had given the school a small amount of time to change things for the better, or the government would close the school, but were the inspectors correct in their judgement? Oh yes! I had trained in some very challenging schools in inner-city Liverpool (which I loved), but never thought I would return to my beloved countryfied county of Devon, to witness things by children that would make your hair curl if I wrote them here….. In fact, you wouldn’t believe it!
Moving forward to 2010, we had made major changes to the school with policy, procedures and most importantly of all, recruitment of good staff. Principals in the UK and here in the UAE, are asked to prepare a SEF (School Evaluation Form), prior to the inspection, and this is given to the inspectors well in advance of the ‘main event’. The term ‘Form’ is an understatement, as it is usually over 120 pages long! Now, here is the deal: Principals have to present their school on this paper work in the best light as they can, pointing to hard evidence, whilst inspectors will use it primarily to make a judgement before the inspection is conducted and will go hunting during the inspection, to ensure the evidence supports the statements made. At the end of the ‘Form,’ the Principal has to grade themselves against the criteria of the framework: get it wrong against what the inspectors judge during the inspection and the Principal and management are judged as weak, or poor. Does a Principal really want to say that their school is weak, just to get a mention in the report that the management is strong, for getting this judgement correct?
The SEF had been written, and we had judged ourselves as ‘Good’. This was the second of four results possible, ‘Outstanding’ being the
best, with ‘Requires Improvement’ & ‘Inadequate’ (The latter has two sub-categories, ‘Serious Weakness’ & then ‘Special Measures’). I remember the Senior Team sat in the boardroom with the inspectors on that Friday at about 1700hr, when the lead inspector said, ‘We have judged this school to be Outstanding!’ The hairs on my neck still raise just recalling this moment, as we never expected this. How did we achieve this? We were saying ‘Good,’ and we were solid about this. No inflation, no modesty, just honesty. Well, according to the inspector, the teaching that was observed over the 2 days was mostly ‘Outstanding,’ despite our floor targets of the GCSE and A Level results being far from those set by the government! This latter point was a key component of the UK inspections. Hold this thought, whilst I forward wind 4 years later to the next inspection!
It was another Friday at approximately 1500hr. The inspection was coming to an end. The lead inspector was walking up the stairs to that same boardroom, with the senior team in tow, when he said to us all, ‘We feel this is a Good school’. Ok, we were going to lose the Outstanding badge, which was fair and was in our SEF judgement too, but within 10 minutes after this statement was made, something extraordinary happened.
A car pulled up and out jumped the moderating inspector. The moderating inspector can show up from time to time, here and in the UK, but they are there to see fair play and oversee the conduct of the inspection team.
I remember her entering the boardroom with her leopard print kitten heels, slamming down the school’s GCSE and A level results document (PANDA on the desk), and saying, ‘This says you are a school that should be ‘Requires to Improve,’ and as such, that’s your grade.” And that was it! Four years ago our data wasn’t an issue, and now it was!
Are inspection grades decided in an office? This was something that I became cynical about in the UK, having been at both sides of the coin.
Here in the UAE, I have predicted our grades to the Chairman in advance of each of our inspections, and with my own fair reflection and SEF, we have seen those grades translated into the reports. What I will say is this: the framework here in the UAE is considerably of a higher and tougher standard than the UK. I would estimate that a ‘Good’ grade here would easily translate to an ‘Outstanding’ in the UK due to the floor targets and standards that the UAE demands. We shouldn’t apologise for that and as parents we should encourage the standards here in the UAE; albeit, as a Principal it makes our job a bit harder!
Inspections have taken place across the UAE recently on Distance Learning, and I can for one tell you that they have been very thorough and very demanding. There is no hiding for a school in inspection, whether it be virtual or physical. Inspectors are in the main, ex-Principals, and senior leaders that know the tricks, know the deal; and know where schools shine and hide. Indeed, a good school leader will tell you that an inspection should simply be a by-product of what we do everyday, where I tell my own staff that you should teach every lesson as if the parents of the children you teach are also in the room; for sure, this is what Distance Learning has allowed!
Celebrate your school’s result. Support them where they can make improvements, but know that there is blood, sweat and tears poured into your school by the management to make it the best they can every day, and not just for an inspection. Pride, honour and respect is the bare minimum at stake as important young lives and their futures are placed in our hands.
Andrew Thomas B.Ed (Hons) M.Phil NPHQ Principal Al Ain English Speaking School.
Andrew gained his Master of Philosophy degree through the study of technology in education and has delivered many conference speeches on technology in education, including BETT Middle East, and at the British Educational Research Association.
Al Ain English School has recently been inspected for Distance Learning and has been graded with the top grade of “Developed” by ADEK.
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Screening and testing campaign in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, successfully concludes, having fully contained the spread of Covid-19
Six-week campaign offers free medical assessments and screening for 570,000 people Campaign delivered streamlined healthcare and support services to residents
The Abu Dhabi Department of Health, in cooperation with relevant entities, has successfully concluded a sixweek screening and testing campaign in the Musaffah area of Abu Dhabi, having fully contained the spread of Covid-19 among the area’s residents.
The campaign, which started on 9 May, provided streamlined healthcare and support services to residents as part of the National Screening Programme, which aims to provide Covid-19 testing for the largest possible number of Abu Dhabi residents.
Over the six-week period, free transportation to testing centres and medical assessments were provided for 570,000 residents. Screening took place across 2,730 buildings.
Additional preventative and precautionary health measures were provided to protect residents’ health and safety, including the provision of 750,00 face masks and multi-lingual education and awareness programmes to 570,000 people. The sessions, which outlined social distancing guidelines, and the use of personal protection equipment (face masks and gloves), resulted in a high rate of adoption of preventative measures. As an additional gesture of support, one million free meals were provided.
Volunteers and frontline workers from across the community dedicated their time and effort to support the campaign, which was widely welcomed by residents.
