CYP Now - Inspector Ofsted: get ready, be ready and join the OBC

Last week, when the weather was still warm and summer made a brief appearance, we piled onto Zoom to engage with Ofsted as part of their termly Consultative Forum.

While there are many things I hate about video calls, this meeting works reasonably well because it is well planned and lots of people can attend.

The meeting focused on the changes to the EYFS and the implication for inspections. The thing about senior Ofsted inspectors is they speak kindly and sensibly about the issues we all worry about. However, this does not always filter down to the reality on the ground. I think some of that is because of inspectors’ inexperience and lack of confidence in making certain judgements.

This is now a live issue for us because whenever there is a change, we observe certain behavioural changes amongst inspectors. They become more risk averse, the number of Outstanding judgements appear to be reduced and inspectors seem more fixated on particular issues rather than a more rounded assessment.

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