There appears to have been some important changes at Ofsted since Eleanor Schooling was appointed national director for social care six months ago. The former director of children's services at Islington Council has postponed retirement for a year to steer the inspectorate through challenging times. Last year, it had to absorb budget cuts, leadership changes and delays to the children's services inspection programme. These issues, combined with the low judgments meted out under the single inspection framework (SIF), knocked children's leaders' confidence in Ofsted.
Schooling's arrival appears to have coincided with a welcome dose of realism over the SIF. The intensity of the inspection process has stretched the resources of children's social care services and Ofsted, to the point where Schooling says it will take until the end of 2017 to inspect all councils, a year later than originally planned.
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