Skip to main content

Ofsted questions


The photo above is me during a show at Disney Land Paris. The pupils I was accompanying had the great idea that I would love to be in the show. Why put it here? Well, it's another example of when I've really been in the spotlight! Ofsted puts similar pressure on departments.

Here is a list of questions that I've been asked at a Curriculum Leader of Geography by Ofsted inspectors. The questions were asked in one-to-one and group interviews. Hopefully they will be of help to others.:

1. Where are the opportunities for independent enquiry in your curriculum?
2. Why do pupils make good progress in your subject but not in others?
3. What have you done to raise standards in your subject and what evidence have you got that it is making a difference?
4. What have you learnt from other departments that are doing well?
5. Where are the literacy opportunities in your curriculum?
6. How do you know that all staff in the department know what a Level 6 is?
7. What have you done to ensure the progress of different groups of pupils?
8. Has the school's focus on healthy lifestyles impacted in your department?
9. What are you doing to promote economic well-being?
10. What is the quality of care, guidance and support like for individual Looked After Children?
11. Are differences in performance in different subjects a result of inconsistency in teaching?
12. Are routines consistent and is every teacher planning for every pupil every lesson?
13. How are you using the school specialism to promote good progress?
14. What is your extra-curricular provision and what is its impact on standards?
15. Do staff use tracking data to influence pupils' progress and support their pathway choices?
16. What have you done when you have identified a problem with a class/teacher?
17. How does your SEF shape what you do to improve pupils' experience of school?
18. What impact does out-of-classroom learning have in your department?
19. What are you doing to ensure the consistent delivery of GCSE courses?
20. What are you doing to encourage the development of staff?

A mighty list, but I must add that I have cobbled these together over the two Ofsted visits over the pat 12 months.

Comments

  1. hi... you have a great blog. See my geography blog (Portugal)
    http://geopensar.blogspot.com/

    Lídia Mendes

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's really useful David - we'll be visited this term

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge.  I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post.  I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff.  If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been 

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey.  As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others.  Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up.  I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions.  From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment.  From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die.  How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach?  Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options.  Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet.  Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco.  I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option.  The result? No egg on my face.  As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life.  It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon.  They may die or be seriously injured.  If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way.  There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious.  Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin.  However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal.  The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).