Following the death of Ruth Perry the workings of Ofsted have attracted increased focus - and criticism.
One outcome of this is the announcement of an independent review of Ofsted led by Lord Jim Knight, titled Beyond Ofsted, that will look at what the inspectorate currently does, the concerns of the teaching unions and many recommendations being made.
I hope the review board takes the opportunity to review inspection systems from elsewhere in the world and what they could learn from them.
For example, while I started my career in the UK state system and have experienced Ofsted inspections as a teacher and as a school leader, for the past 10 years I have led schools in Dubai where we are subject to oversight from the Dubai Schools Inspection Board (DSIB).
While not perfect itself, there are many aspects of how the DSIB operates that I think are worth taking into account in any discussion about the future of Ofsted.
1. Regularity of inspections
In Dubai - pandemic excepting - private schools are inspected every year. While this can be a considerable burden, there are advantages too.
The first is that teachers and school leaders get used to the experience and know what to expect. Furthermore, we know that the inspection is coming and, once it has happened, it will not be coming again that year.
This enables staff to focus on the inspection and then return to the day-to-day running of the school. By contrast, the school I worked at previously in the UK was last inspected in 2007 and has not been inspected since. Consequently, the school has had to be “ready” for an inspection for 16 years. Having been there for the first six years of that period, I know how unsettling and exhausting this can be.
The predictability of inspections dramatically reduces the tension around an inspection and helps school leaders focus on students rather than inspectors.
2. Notification time
The DSIB provides one week of warning of an inspection. Ofsted provides one day.
While I understand the need to see schools “as they normally are”, there is little a school can do in a week to change anything substantive.
Student outcomes, school structures and what has been achieved since the last inspection cannot be manufactured during such a small window.
But a week’s notice at least allows for the final updating up of some documentation (which has to be submitted 72 hours after notification), for staff to plan lessons and for noticeboards to be tidied.
It also allows the whole school to start the week feeling prepared, calm (if not relaxed) and able to focus on demonstrating what takes place there.
3. Length of inspection and size of team
A DSIB inspection has eight or more inspectors, who are at the school for four days.
While some schools may feel that it would be better to get an inspection over quicker, the longer visit means that additional time can be spent on gathering and triangulating evidence, as well as discussion.
In a good inspection, the role of the school principal is to work with the inspection team lead, to challenge conclusions that may be emerging and to suggest evidence to support the self-evaluation form. The inspection lead and the principal work together, although it is the team that decides the judgements.
The size of the inspection team is also important as it means members can come to a collective view over time. I have no doubt that this means conclusions are more considered rather than hastily snatched at in a two-day visit.
4. Consistency of framework
Over the 10 years I have been in Dubai, we have had two different frameworks. I have lost count of the different Ofsted frameworks that have come into existence in the UK during that period, but I believe it is above 10.
The consistency of the frameworks here in Dubai means that they become familiar for both schools and inspectors. That familiarity means that schools understand how they will be judged, the evidence that will be looked for and how to best support any internal claims.
This, again, reduces the unpredictability and, consequently, the unnecessary stress surrounding the inspection.
5. Movement of one judgement level
One of the issues most referenced in the UK is the shock, and devastation, of schools moving many overall judgement levels in one fell swoop.
In the most extreme cases, this means a school previously judged to be “outstanding” moving to an “inadequate” rating overnight.
This has enormous consequences for the school, the community and especially school leaders.
In Dubai there is a six-point scale - “outstanding” to “very weak” - rather than the four in the UK. However, the regularity of inspections means it is virtually impossible for the school to move more than one judgement at each inspection.
While this can be frustrating for a school that believes it is rapidly improving, it also provides a virtual parachute, slowing the descent of any school facing challenges.
It also provides greater clarity on what it can do to improve, thereby preventing further reductions.
These ideas might not be replicable exactly but should certainly inform ideas and discussion about how Ofsted could evolve so that the process feels more collaborative and positive, and has real benefits for the sector as a whole.
Simon O’Connor is director of Deira International School, Dubai
