Beyond Ofsted is a new inquiry established to develop a set of principles for underpinning a better school inspection system and proposals for an alternative approach. It is chaired by Jim Knight, Rt Hon Lord Knight of Weymouth (former schools’ minister), and its findings have been published in a report “Beyond Ofsted. an inquiry into the future of school inspection”.
The independent inquiry was sponsored by the National Education Union (NEU) and included members of the NEU, industry experts and academics. It will provide the government and relevant stakeholders with a robust and carefully considered set of principles on which to build an alternative inspection system.
The authors of the report (Jane Perryman, Alice Bradbury, Graham Calvert, Katie Kilian (UCL Institute of Education)) make the following main recommendations:
- Every school will conduct its own selfevaluation.
- Schools will work with an external school improvement partner (SIP), delivering on an action plan,
informed by the school performance review. - SIPs will validate the school performance reviews. The purposes of the school
performance reviews are to enhance schools’ capacity for self-improvement and to provide information to
stakeholders. - Safeguarding audits will be conducted annually by a separate body, under the oversight of a national safeguarding body.
- The role of inspectors will change so that they focus on the governance of, and capacity for, school improvement and responding to any challenges faced including the relationship between the school and the school improvement partner.
You can download the full report and an “at a glance” version from the Beyond Ofsted website using the link below.
dsga.org.uk 