Ofsted Roundup

Recommendations on the role of Ofsted

The Education Select Committee has published its report on Ofsted. In the report the Committee concludes  that “a single children's inspectorate is too large to function effectively and greater specialism is necessary to give people increased confidence in inspections”. Graham Stuart, chair of the committee, said a radical shift in how inspection operates is necessary through a more "proportionate, specialist and focused approach". "Ofsted has, of course, made a great impact on the quality of provision across the country, but the evidence clearly shows that smaller, more focused organisations could do even more so," he said.

The committee's recommendations come after confirmation that chief inspector Christine Gilbert will step down at the end of June, prompting a search for her successor:

• Government should split Ofsted into two inspectorates; one for education and one for children's care, but with two separate chief inspectors
• Inspectorate for education should be responsible for education and skills including nurseries, schools, colleges, secure estate education
• Inspectorate for children's care should be responsible for care services including children's homes, adoption services, childminders and Cafcass
• Education inspectorate should provide recommendations to drive better outcomes for children and learners
• Children's care inspectorate should actively support service improvement
• The two inspectorates should share back office functions to reduce costs
• Government should appoint two senior advisers within the Department for Education; a chief education officer and chief children's care officer, to support the chief inspectors
• Ofsted website needs considerable revision to increase accessibility
• Chief inspectors should ensure reports are parent-friendly and accessible to young people, particularly those in care

Girls making uninformed choices about careers

Ofsted published its report, “Girls’ career aspirations”, and has found that some girls are receiving weak careers education, which is making it difficult for them to make properly informed choices about courses and careers.

The report is based on findings from visits to 16 primary schools, 25 secondary schools, including 13 single-sex girls’ schools, and with female learners from 10 colleges. Inspectors also contacted 36 businesses linked to 12 schools.

In most of the schools visited, not enough was being done to promote the confidence, drive and ambition of girls to take risks in challenging vocational stereotypes. Through discussions, inspectors found that girls aged 11 to 14 years had limited knowledge and understanding of how choices about courses and careers influenced pay and progression.

A narrow range of gender-stereotypical work placements dominated choices in almost all the schools visited. Of the 1,725 examples of work placements for young women collected from school records, only 164 represented non-stereotypical experiences.

The girls from the schools visited predominantly held stereotypical views about jobs for men and women, despite knowing they can choose any career and being taught about equal opportunities. For girls of all ages, the decision about what they would like to do when they finished school was most heavily influenced by friends and families.

Many of the girls thought there could be discrimination if they worked in a male dominated occupation, and suggested they would like to visit a workplace and see a woman doing the job successfully before choosing it for themselves.

The report ‘Girls’ career aspirations’ can be found on the Ofsted website.

The voice of the child: learning lessons from serious case reviews

Ofsted published “The voice of the child: learning lessons from serious case reviews”. This is Ofsted’s fifth report evaluating serious case reviews (SCRs) and considers 67 carried out between 1 April and 30 September 2010. The cases involved 93 children, 39 of whom died.

The report has a single theme: the importance of hearing the voice of the child. It provides an in-depth exploration of this key issue. It draws out practical implications and lessons for practitioners and Local Safeguarding Children Boards.

The voice of the child: learning lesson from serious case reviews can be found on the Ofsted website