Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) will visit around 1,200 schools
across England this autumn term, Ofsted confirmed today as it
published operational notes about visits to state schools,
further education and skills providers (FES) and independent
schools.
Ofsted aims to tell parents, government and the public about how
schools are managing the return to full education of their
pupils, the majority of whom have not been in school for more
than 5 months due to the impact of COVID-19. The visits, initially
announced in July, will include schools of different types
and of all Ofsted grades across England. Visits will be based
around constructive discussions with the school or college
leaders; they are not inspections, so will not result in a grade.
We will notify a school of the visit on the day before and talk
about the practicalities of the visit – including any specific
considerations related to COVID-19. Normally, 2 inspectors will
visit a school for 1 day, when they will have collaborative
conversations with school leaders.
On the visit, they will talk about any barriers that the school
is facing in managing the return to opening fully, how pupils are
getting back into expected routines and their behaviour, and the
school’s safeguarding arrangements. Inspectors will also talk to
school leaders about how remote learning fits into their wider
curriculum plans. After a visit, the inspector will write a short
letter, which will be published on our reports website.
HM Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said:
We are looking forward to visiting schools this autumn term to
find out how they are managing the return to school. I’d like
to stress that school leaders and teachers should not do
anything in advance of these visits, and nor should they
prepare any paperwork just for us. Schools are busy enough
welcoming back children at the moment, and we do not want to
distract from that. These visits will be collaborative
conversations that will help us all understand how well pupils
are getting on as they return to school and get back into
routine.
The first visits will take place at the end of this month.
Inspectors will observe social distancing and all other national
or local guidance from the government to carry out these visits
safely.
Ofsted will be carrying out similar interim visits to FES
providers. These will also not involve any graded judgements.
They will help learners, parents, employers and government
understand how providers are meeting the needs of students and
apprentices in this period.
During their visit, inspectors will ask leaders what steps they
are taking to provide an appropriate curriculum as they return to
full education and training programmes in autumn, and how they
are ensuring that young people are learning in a safe
environment.
For independent schools, Ofsted is continuing with some
additional inspections conducted outside the standard inspection
cycle, which may include pre-registration, material change,
emergency, and progress monitoring inspections. These aim to help
increase the number of school places where they are needed, and
to ensure that children are safe. The Department for Education
will commission Ofsted for each such inspection.
Full inspection is set to resume in January 2021, but this is
being kept under review.
