With so many Isle of Wight schools having been placed in Special Measures by Ofsted, we thought it would be worthwhile laying out what happens once rated.
The positive way to look at a school entering Special Measures is that Ofsted gives the school concentrated attention, to help it improve quickly.
The majority of the text that follows has been taken, often directly, from Ofsted’s guidance document of September 2012, which we’ve also embedded at the bottom of this article.
What are Special Measures exactly?
First off, let’s tackle the official definition of what Special Measures is.
Section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, defines it as where the Chief Inspector is of the opinion that:
‘… the school is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education, and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.’
What happens after Special Measures judgement?
Once it has been declared, the local authority, the school’s proprietor or sponsor has to submit a statement and a plan of action to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) within ten working days of the school receiving the original inspection report recommending Special Measures.
Within four to six weeks of the publication of the inspection report, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) will usually conduct the first monitoring inspection, as has recently happened at Carisbrooke College, Sandown Bay Academy and Cowes Enterprise College.
Number of inspections
The general Ofsted guidance is that up to five monitoring inspections can be carried out over the 18 months following the section 5 inspection that placed it in special measures.
This number of inspections is influenced by the size of school, but if the areas for improvement and/or the school ‘context’ are very complex, the relevant Senior HMI may consider an increase in the tariff.
The HMI who carries out the first monitoring inspection of a school made subject to special measures will normally perform this role throughout the period that the school is monitored.
What happens at first monitoring inspection
The lead inspector will normally inform the school up to two working days in advance of the inspection. This is to allow the relevant strategic partners (local authority, proprietor or sponsor) to be present for discussion about support for the school and the likely pattern of monitoring. It will also enable as many members of the governing body as possible to attend the inspection feedback.
Before the meeting, the inspector has a phone call with the headteacher detailing what they will be doing during the visit. The Head can also take the opportunity to highlight the progress that the school has made since the previous section 5 inspection or previous monitoring inspection, and to provide any new contextual information.
How the day breaks down
It’s a single day inspection where:
- The inspector will meet with the headteacher, the chair of the governing body and a further representative from the local authority, proprietor or sponsor to discuss the implementation of the statement of action and the school’s improvement plan and to determine whether these are fit for purpose.
- Where any change of staffing has taken place since the previous inspection, a review of the single central register will take place.
- The inspector will also outline the likely pattern of future monitoring inspections.
What’s the purpose for the first inspection?
Ofsted give the following as the purpose of the first monitoring inspection:
- gauge the school’s initial response to being judged as requiring special measures and how well it is placed to achieve rapid improvement
- test that the school’s actions are rigorously focused on tackling the key areas for improvement identified in the section 5 inspection
- evaluate how effectively the school is adapting its existing school development or improvement plans to meet the challenges of moving rapidly out of special measures
- evaluate the impact that governors at the school are having on bringing about necessary improvements – inspectors will take account of the section 5 guidance on assessing and reporting on the effectiveness of governance at the school
- review the statement of action
- determine whether the school may appoint newly qualified teachers
- offer guidance to the school and other partners to sharpen, if necessary, the effectiveness of improvement planning.
- check the single central register if staffing has changed since a previous inspection and/or weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements were identified at the section 5 inspection that judged the school to require special measures.
Views of pupils, parents and other stakeholders
Inspectors may talk with pupils during lessons, break and lunchtimes and, where appropriate, meet with pupils to discuss issues relating to the school’s areas for improvement.
There is no requirement for schools to inform parents about monitoring inspections. However, headteachers should be encouraged to let parents know about these inspections and their outcomes.
It is the duty of the governing body, proprietor or sponsor to keep parents informed about the progress the school is making.
Parents’ comments received by Ofsted and/or parents’ views received through Parent View will be made available to inspectors.
Oral feedback
At the end of the first monitoring inspection, the inspector will give oral feedback on the fitness for purpose of the statement of action and the school’s improvement plan as well as making a judgement about whether the school should be permitted to employ newly qualified teachers.
The lead inspector may indicate the main focus of the next monitoring inspection derived from the inspection findings.
The monitoring letter for the first monitoring inspection must include:
- a judgement on the fitness for purpose of the statement of action and of the school’s improvement plan
- a judgement about whether the school should be permitted to employ newly qualified teachers.
Publishing the letter
The arrangements for publication of letters and reports are as follows.
- The lead inspector will complete the letter and monitoring report the day after the inspection and send these to the appropriate inspection service provider by 09.00 on the second working day following the end of the inspection.
- The inspection service provider will edit and send the letter and monitoring report to the school normally within five working days of the end of the inspection.
- The school has 24 hours to check and report any factual inaccuracies to the inspection service provider.
- The inspection service provider will prepare a final version of the letter and monitoring report which will be sent to the:
- headteacher
- Secretary of State for Education
- chair of the governing body or interim executive board or proprietor as appropriate
- local authority, or academy proprietor or sponsor
- diocese, for voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools
- Education Funding Agency (EFA), for secondary schools with a sixth form
- DfE Academies Advisers Unit, for academies
- person or body responsible for appointing foundation governors if the school has a foundation
- lead inspector.
Full document
