Cautious welcome for Ofsted changes (From Warrington Guardian)

Cautious welcome for Ofsted changes

PROPOSALS to change the way inspections are carried out in primary and secondary schools have met with a mixed response from education bosses in Warrington.

A new blueprint on the future of Ofsted, launched last week by chief inspector of schools David Bell, proposes to introduce shorter but more frequent inspections with teachers being given little notice of Ofsted visits.

The "warts and all" inspections will take place every three years, instead of every six, and inspectors will be able to see the usual day-to-day running of schools providing parents with more up to date information.

Malcolm Roxburgh, director of education at the borough council, said: "This is an interesting set of proposals and there seems to be an increasing emphasis on self evaluation in schools, which is very positive.

"I tentatively welcome the plans to reduce the scale of inspection teams with my only concern being that not all registered inspectors are of the same quality."

He also welcomed news that teachers would only be given a few days' notice of inspections, as opposed to several months' warningHe said that anything that reduces stress for teachers was beneficial.

Barry Fishwick, head teacher at Penketh High School, said the new-style checks would result in Ofsted inspectors seeing "every day lessons" and would cut out long build-ups to visits.

He added: "I don't think the proposals are a bad idea if inspectors come in and judge a school on what they see.

"Every school should be meeting the set requirements day in and day out and I'm in favour of Ofsted teams seeing what the school is about, and providing high quality feedback."

Mr Bell said the new proposals were aimed at improving inspections without affecting standards and if they are approved they could come into effect in September next year.