OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education)

Teachers in the UK have a favourite organisation towards which we all turn with awe and trembling - OFSTED. This is the organisation that inspects schools, child care providers and initial teacher training providers.

The inspection outcomes for schools are now largely determined by examination outcomes data and the self evaluation form ("SEF") completed by the school itself. The notice period for an inspection is two working days, but with only two days of on-site inspection evidence gathering - typically OFSTED will ring on the Friday to let a head teacher know they are coming on the Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week. We were told this would reduce the stress of inspection by removing the weeks of lead in to a known inspection date when everyone panics. Not so. When schools know they are due an inspection because it is three years since their last inspection they go into a permanent state of inspection panic which can, as in the case of my school, last for a whole year ...

My school got the phone call on Friday, and the inspectors are in today and tomorrow. Half the science staff, and some other staff, went in to school on Saturday and Sunday (not me, I hasten to add).... Panic or what! Personally, I have evaded it entirely - lesson 1 this morning all the inspectors were in meetings with the Senior Leadership Team, Lesson 2 they were "evidence gathering" but I was taking part in a meeting elsewhere in my trade union capacity .... and I don't teach again until Thursday afternoon by which time it will all be over. As a colleague said to me this morning when they saw me in school and hadn't expected to see me: "I thought you were avoiding OFSTED ...".

It is my second encounter with OFSTED this year, as they carried out a short inspection of Maryvale Institute's PGCE course in May. This came out with a judgement that "the overall quality of training is at least good". One of the key strengths identified was "the reflection encouraged by intellectually challenging assignments". The text of the report also commented that "Assignments are carefully marked according to clearly defined and regularly reviewed criteria and trainees receive extended feedback". The assignments are not the only area of the course I contribute to, but they are the area to which I have contributed most. So I did enjoy those parts of OFSTED's report.

Only one point for action was identified: "ensuring that the training meets the needs of trainees working in non-Catholic schools and from non-Catholic backgrounds". The PGCE has always had some trainees who are non-Catholics - mostly Christians of other denominations, but also Muslim and Jewish students. Their response to Maryvale as a Catholic institution is very positive. If you look at some of my posts in recent months, you will see a number addressing the issue of dialogue, particularly inter-religious dialogue. This has been in part prompted by the OFSTED reports point for action. Whilst one can perhaps see a secularising agenda on the part of the OFSTED inspectors, from Maryvale's side it can be seen as a fair question about how the organisation enters into dialogue with its students from other religious backgrounds at the same time as retaining its integrity as a Catholic institution.