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Ofsted inspection

Navigating Ofsted: Practical Ofsted Preparation for Your School(s)

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Training & development
12/04/2023
disciplinary meeting at a school

At a glance

When an Ofsted inspection is due, it is important for every governing board to feel confident and prepared for the visit. Instead of building their understanding well in advance boards often leave things very late. The best way to approach Ofsted is to understand what is expected well in advance of a visit.

*The enhanced session can be extended beyond two hours to accommodate two or more learning conversations.

Fully bespoke

This session can be tailored to the circumstances of your school or trust.

2 hour session

We can support boards in various ways. Here are two options which can be combined or commissioned separately depending on training need.

Standard session

Navigating Ofsted: What Governing Boards Need to Know

This session will help boards to understand what an Ofsted inspection involves, what Ofsted is looking for and what the board’s role is. It will equip boards with sufficient understanding of what to expect and how to prepare for an inspection, including the need to identify and respond to any issues and likely lines of enquiry beforehand.

This session will cover
  • The new Ofsted framework (and how it differs from the previous one)
    • Types of inspection
    • Areas inspected
    • Outcomes and report cards
  • What we know about latest Ofsted inspections and themes
  • How governance and leadership are considered and evaluated
  • Roles – who is responsible for what
  • Meeting those governing
  • Being prepared – those governing
    • What is Ofsted expecting to see
    • Demonstrating the impact of governance*
    • Responding to lines of enquiry: dos and don’ts
  • Being prepared – staff and school
  • How the inspection process works – a walkthrough of a graded inspection
  • Identifying issues that need to be addressed prior to inspection
* The session can be tailored to focus on particular areas (eg. safeguarding, curriculum, inclusion & SEND) depending on priorities.
Fully bespoke: This standard session can be tailored to the circumstances of your school or trust but will not involve the same level of analysis and preparation as the enhanced option.
Enhanced session

Navigating Ofsted: Practical Ofsted Preparation for Your School(s)

This session will focus on putting participants in a more confident position to be able to articulate to Ofsted how through its governance it improves the life chances of its young people.

It allows board members who may well be meeting Ofsted and answering their questions to engage in a learning conversation. This will help them build a better understanding of how to prepare and respond confidently through focused conversations, allowing for practice and feedback.

About this course

Referencing the schools IDSR and other key documentation, it will develop a better understanding of areas which those governing may need to give more attention to satisfy expectations under the Leadership and Governance area.

It assumes a base outline knowledge of the new Ofsted framework; if participants have not received briefing on this then this can be achieved by attendance of the standard session or through other options.

The session will explore the following:

  • What participants think they know about their school
    • What does the school do well and what needs to improve?
    • How well are pupils doing?
    • In what areas might pupils do better, what is being done to achieve this and what else should be done?
  • What Ofsted will know about the school from
    • The IDSR (limited use in relation to special schools)
    • The trust/school’s own key documents and information (viz school evaluation form, school development plan etc)
    • The school’s website
  • Possible lines of enquiry
    • Areas Ofsted’s new framework identifies as being of particular interest
    • Possible lines of enquiry prompted by weaknesses, strengths and themes revealed by school information
  • Questions participants may be asked
    • Questions trustees and board members ask and how to show this
    • Specific questions about key areas including possible lines of enquiry identified
  • How to respond to lines of enquiry and questions from Ofsted
    • Approaching areas of weakness
    • Providing responses that demonstrate sound understanding of the school
    • Supporting views, claims and statements with evidence
    • Being positive and realistic not defensive
    • What to do if you don’t know the answer
  • Next steps – to what extent does those governing need to do more, for example
    • To meet expectations to be strategic
    • To be better informed
    • To demonstrate challenge, monitoring and effective impact
    • To meet compliance obligations

about this course

Who is this suitable for?

The session is suitable for the following and will be contextualised for each setting:

  • Governors of maintained schools
  • Trustees of single academy trusts
  • Trustees, and MAT local governance tier  members

We would also recommend the attendance of:

  • The senior leader and members of the senior leadership team
  • The governance professional

The standard session is suitable for a single board, for a group of schools to share or for delivery on behalf of an organisation providing governance training for governors or trustees.

Both standard and enhanced sessions are suitable for a single board or for a single MAT to run for its own trustees and local governors, tailored to its specific governance arrangements and policies.

about this course

What are the benefits?

An Ofsted inspection can be daunting for everyone, not least for the governing board, or academy committee (local governing body) who are expected to answer inspectors’ questions about the effectiveness of their organisation. It is important to remember, however, that both Ofsted and governors have the same core goal – to achieve excellence in education.

With a clear understanding of the Ofsted framework, the inspections process and the criteria used to make judgments about a school, participants will know what to expect. Completion of the session will build their confidence in preparing for a visit and responding credibly to lines of enquiry. It will also provide a sense of perspective about what can be expected from those governing and the remit of staff.  

about this course

How will you learn?

  • Both the two-hour standard session and the enhanced session can be delivered via face-to-face or online workshop
  • They will be facilitated by a quality-assured NGA consultant with relevant governance and training expertise
  • Each session will be interactive with a mixture of participant activities and facilitator-led explanation and discussion. The enhanced session will involve consideration of the school’s IDSR and other key information, possible Ofsted lines of enquiry and questions, allowing participants to prepare and practise responses with focused individual feedback from the session facilitator
  • Both sessions will be supported with session materials including a resource toolkit and suggested activities to help with next steps

  • ‘I found the session very useful and informative, with lots of shared learning and opportunities to learn from each other too.’

    Decorative

    Caroline Hall

    Tennyson Road Infant School

    Enquire now to book this for your board(s)

    Book your training

    If you would like to book a session or find out more then make an enquiry.

    Enquire online

    This training is designed for a group of participants at a school, trust or other organisation.

    It is also suitable for a group of schools to share.

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