A revision of Ofsted’s guidelines on inspections could make it tougher for schools to be rated ‘outstanding.’ Under new guidelines there is expected to be a closer link between the quality of a school’s teaching and the overall grade in the future.
This is part of overall changes to Ofsted inspections which will now focus on four key areas the achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and learning, behaviour and leadership and management. This is in reflection to Michael’s Gove concern of schools being awarded outstanding status which did reflect the quality of teaching in the school.
Schools minister Nick Gibb said: "Inspection plays a vital role in raising academic standards in schools. This new way of inspecting schools will allow Ofsted to spend more time in the classroom and to concentrate on things that really matter to parents, such as pupil behaviour and the quality of teaching.”
Ofsted’s proposed framework can be found here.
The School Travel Forum made a formal response to the Ofsted consultation on school inspection. We consider the new framework has a clear focus on what happens inside the classroom and ignores the significant benefits to learning and development that activities such as school trips and outdoor learning have been proven to deliver. We will continue to push for recognition that more emphasise is needed to promote learning outside the classroom.
October 2011
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The STF has welcomed Ofsted’s consultation on the inspection of maintained schools and academies in England and has highlighted the benefits of outdoor education in enhancing a student’s engagement with the curriculum and improving attainment levels.
We have stated our belief that Ofsted should promote outdoor education by specifically evaluating the provision of and access to outdoor learning within its new inspection framework.
We have said that we would like to see the inspection framework consider the promotion of good health and safety in school travel such as through reputable providers of the Learning Outside the Classroom Council quality badge.
Importantly, we would also like to see Ofsted judge school leadership and management based on its ability to overcome bureaucratic barriers that prevent teachers from taking their students into the outdoor classroom.
In the submission we highlighted the following areas:
· The benefits of outdoor education in enhancing student engagement and behaviour as well as improving educational attainment. The need for the new inspection framework to give particular attention to the provision of outdoor education in regards to the quality of teaching.
· The worrying decline in outdoor education in recent years due to health and safety concerns and bureaucratic procedures which restrict teachers from organising school trips.
· The need to evaluate effective health and safety in school travel as part of Ofsted’s plans to judge pupils’ behaviour and safety.
· The importance of effective school leadership and management which encourages the use of outdoor education by overcoming bureaucratic barriers that can prevent teachers from taking their students into the outdoor classroom.
· For Ofsted to evaluate access to outdoor education for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in as part of its judgement of school measures to narrow the attainment gap.
Click here for a full copy of the submission