Ofsted has today published the first monitoring report on 132
commitments made in the Big Listen and the response to Dame
Christine Gilbert's independent learning review.
- Forty-two out of 132 pledges completed so far, with good
progress made on remaining actions.
- Trials of new inspection approach to begin week of 6 January.
- Consultation on renewed education inspection framework to
open later in January.
Ofsted has today published the first monitoring report on 132
commitments made in the Big Listen and the
response to Dame Christine Gilbert's
independent learning review.
Read the ‘Big Listen action
monitoring report: December 2024'.
The monitoring report sets out all the improvement actions that
Ofsted has completed to date and provides an update on those not
yet completed. It shows that just under a third (42) of the
actions have been completed so far, with work to deliver the
others progressing as planned.
Ofsted has also today announced that it will begin trials of a
new approach to education inspection in the first week of the new
term, with visits to a small number of volunteer schools. These
visits will informally test elements of the proposed inspection
framework, which Ofsted will publish for consultation later in
January.
Later in the term, and in parallel with the consultation, Ofsted
will formally pilot the new approach in schools as well as other
education settings, including early years providers,
non-associated independent schools, further education and skills
providers, and initial teacher education providers. These pilots
will help to refine and improve Ofsted's proposals.
Following consultation, and any changes to the proposed approach,
Ofsted will run further pilot inspections of a range of volunteer
providers to test the final model. At the same time, a series of
events will be held to inform and support education
professionals.
Ofsted Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said:
Our response to the Big Listen set out our determination to
retain the confidence of children, their parents and carers, and
to earn back the trust of the dedicated professionals working
hard to improve children's life chances.
I'm pleased to now be publishing this first monitoring report,
which describes all the work we are doing to improve our culture
and practices. I hope that it shows that we are willing to
listen, accept challenge, and take action where it's needed.
I am also delighted that the work to trial our new inspection
approach begins in early January. Feedback from these trials, and
from our soon-to-be-launched consultation, will shape and improve
our proposals.
In her independent learning review, published in September,
Dame Christine Gilbert recommended that Ofsted should produce a
‘single, overarching improvement and development plan', detailing
all the initiatives and actions arising from the Coroner and
Education Select Committee's reports. Ofsted fully accepted this
recommendation and the response to the Big Listen provided that
top-level plan, setting out a total of 132 actions that aimed to
achieve 3 core objectives:
- to reset relationships with those Ofsted regulates and
inspects, working collaboratively to put children and learners
first
- to foster a culture of integrity in which Ofsted always
treats people with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect
- to be a learning organisation that operates transparently,
listens to challenge and takes action to change
In the response to Dame Christine's Review, Ofsted also agreed to
publish regular monitoring reports, to provide transparency about
the progress made towards achieving these objectives. Today's
report is the first in a series that will continue until all the
actions have been completed.
