1. Home
  2. Before Ofsted Call – Top Tips for Subject leaders

Before Ofsted Call – Top Tips for Subject leaders

Posted by: Category:
person-on-phone

Based on the experiences of subject leaders in schools that have been inspected recently, here are a few top tips that might be useful to consider before and after the Ofsted call:

Before the call:

  • Make sure you are really clear about the intent for your subject. Not just that you have high expectations (who doesn’t?!), but why the curriculum in your subject is right for your children and how it reflects their needs and the context of the school. A scheme that was written for a school in an inner city is not going to be a perfect fit for a small coastal school.

 

  • You might not know why certain curriculum choices were made because it was decided before you took on the role and you have just inherited long term plans. Why do we use a certain scheme? Why do we study that period in history? Why that artist or that author? If this is the case, do a bit of research and find out.

 

  • How was key subject specific knowledge and vocabulary identified for each unit of work and year group, and why? Again, you might need to do a bit of research here if you weren’t the subject leader when these decisions were made.

 

  • Don’t forget the EYFS curriculum in your subject, especially if you are a KS2 or KS1 teacher. How does the EYFS curriculum link to the KS1 curriculum in your subject, even if it isn’t called ‘geography’ or ‘history’ in Reception? Make sure you have looked at this in detail and can explain progression and sequencing from children’s starting points on entry

 

  • Do you know which subject-specific threads run through the subject curriculum e.g. the use of repeated themes and concepts? Ofsted are looking for this ‘coherence’. This could be leadership in history or online safety in computing; throwing and catching in PE or sense of place in geography. Make sure you can show this in planning and discuss what it looks like.

 

  • Consider subject pedagogy. For example, despite having an overarching Teaching and Learning policy in a school, the specifics of teaching PE are different to the teaching of phonics. How is your subject taught and how do you know colleagues do this? What has been the impact of CPD in this area and any subsequent monitoring?

 

  • Think about the difference you have made as a subject leader since you took on the role. Be prepared to summarise this with a few key examples. It’s often difficult to remember this if asked about it during inspection because we are always moving on to the next thing in school, but it shows you have had an impact as a leader and gives credibility to your action plan: you get stuff done.

And when you do get the call:

  • Inspectors will have the class timetables for the two days of the inspection. Check when your subject is being taught and go and ask those class teachers specifically what they are teaching. Not just that they are teaching ‘History’, but it’s ‘the second lesson in a sequence of lessons about using historical sources in our local history unit’. Then when you are walking down the corridor with an inspector the next day and they ask what are we going to see in that class, you will be able to give a detailed and accurate answer. By asking your colleagues what they will be teaching you can also be prepared for any anomalies between two classes in the same year group and be able to explain this. You need to ensure that you can show this is not typical and that, over time, both classes make the same overall progress through the year.

 

  • And if an inspector asks you a question you don’t know the answer to, or for some information you don’t have to hand, explain that you can find out or locate that document and will get back to them. There are in school for two days and you’ll know where to find them!
Posted by: Category:

Related Articles