In case you missed it, I was paid a little visit by Ofsted
three weeks ago. The report was
published finally this week and I can scream from the rooftops that our school received
a good. This, I am incredibly happy about, as ‘good’ is like the new
‘outstanding’ in the new, harder, tougher regime of inspections. It feels like
that the title of good was well and truly deserved. It was a team effort and
everyone pulled together and proved our worth. So, how do I feel about the
process? Was it worthwhile? Was it as
bad as I thought it would be?
The Process
Firstly, I am glad it is over, because the disruption it
caused for two days was monumental. As soon as the call was received, the
school turned into ‘Tracy Island’. The offices were moved. Paintings were moved
so that people could access the emergency chute. The palm trees moved aside so
the inspectors could park their sparkling and shining Audis. Surprisingly, they
were all black, suggesting they like leaving and arriving under the cover of
darkness. In fact, it reminded me of a poem, ‘Stop all the clocks’. I stopped
eating, breathing, sleeping and being remotely human for a week. I dropped my family from all my thoughts and
worked hard. Ofsted became my North, South, West, East, my everything.
In fact, that is the problem with the inspections: we know
we do a good job, but the chances of seeing it in one lesson is reduced
considerably, when you know a lot is depending on the outcome of an observation.
I’d love to be the type of person that thinks, ‘I am going to teach how I
normally teach.’ But, I am not, because actually I care and I know that Ofsted
are observing. Let me just repeat myself: they are observing. The key word is
observing. They want to see things. I did teach a normal lesson, but it had the
Ofsted veneer. I made explicit the things I do implicitly in a normal lesson. I am subtle with some things in lessons, so I don’t
advertise that I am checking progress or doing some AFL, but with the big O I made
those things explicit. For a start, I
used the words or terms, when teaching.
The planning is the worst thing, I think. I can teach reasonably well, but as soon at Tracy Island got the call and the pictures started flashing in the Head’s office flashing, my brain starting to download an unnecessary file and ran a full virus scan. A lesson that normally takes me 20 minutes to plan took me several hours. Why? Because the pressure is heaped on to one lesson. You know there is a very good chance they will see you. However, there is no guarantee that they will see you twice. If they saw me twice, then there is a greater chance of me demonstrating my full potential. See me once and then everything is focused on one lesson. I procrastinated so much that I started to doubt my own name. Will this work? Is this too hard? Is this too easy? Have I differentiated enough? Will they show progress in 5 seconds?
The Lesson (Year 8
last lesson of the day)
You are on edge and so are the students. During the whole process, it struck me how
good the students were in this kind of situation. I started the lesson and
waited and waited. The students were furtively looking at the door, checking to
see if we expecting an inspector. I was staring furtively at the door, hoping
that the inspector had the wrong number for my room. It was tense. Will they
come in?
Simple overview of
the lesson planned
Objectives: To explore
different types of persuasive writing
Starter: Students
guess what links four pictures together. They are all adverts.
Task 1: Students are
given a pack of persuasive texts or extracts. They have to rank them for
effectiveness.
Task 2: Students put
the texts into different groups.
Teacher discusses how
persuasive texts have different effects.
Task 3: Students
identify the different effects and then list the features on A3 sheets of paper
stuck around the room.
Plenary: Students, in
pairs, make a small advert for a new chocolate bar, but they use an effect
given to them.
They did come in. Well, she did and she had a clipboard –
nothing quite says power like a clipboard. The lady walked in and I pointed out
a chair at the back of the room. She sat and observed and remained silent for the whole time. She
watched. And she watched…. and she watched so more. I am a little pushy, so I didn’t
want her to just watch. I wanted her to do more. If I am going to fail at
something, I am not going down without a fight. In fact, I was prepared to
fight. Before the lesson had started, I placed the exercise books from each
class near the Ofsted position / chair.
As she was watching and watching and making notes, I walked up to her
and said: ‘please, feel free to look at the exercise books’. And, she did. So she stopped watching and
started reading the exercise books.
Then, the inspector walked around the room, looking at
displays and listening to the students’ work. She didn’t talk to the students
once. (Some lessons they did: some lessons they didn’t). She just listened and
listened. She watched and watched. She
even picked up a feedback sheet I had to help students from a wall display.
Shockingly, the inspector nabbed it. Not only did this lady watch and watch,
read and read, listen and listen, but she stole and stole – right from under my
eyes. Finally, she walked and walked.
Thankfully, she walked out of the classroom. The whole class, including me, let
out a sigh of relief as the door closed.
For the next day, it was back to the first paragraph of this
section – waiting and waiting.
The Feedback from
the Lesson
I always think a ‘thumbs up’ would be great as an observer
leaves. As a teacher, you know how important instant feedback is. Sticking a
thumb up would reduce my stress and relax me a bit more, but no, I had to wait
in line for my feedback. The lines I had seen throughout the day looked like
the lines to Madam Guillotine. I joined
a line and waited for my turn. During the day, I had heard good and bad things.
If you weren’t a teacher, that line
would be the best place to sit and knit, as you could see people being crushed
or praised.
I have debated whether to share my feedback here, because I
am quite reserved. I have never shared the grades of my lessons with anyone,
apart from my wife. But, I feel it necessary in this case and, please, do not
think I am boasting or showing off. Believe me: I have buckets of humility. In
fact, I could probably bottle it and sell it off.
I got an outstanding for the 20 minutes the inspector saw of my
lesson. I was ready to challenge and
attack, but the wind was taken out of my sails. I sat there speechless. I had
heard so much about how things were tougher and I was expecting to fight, but I
was completely taken aback. She mentioned
the following:
·
The displays supported the learning – even though
she nabbed a bit of one
·
The students were engaged and the relationship between students and
teacher were positive
·
The planning
·
The students were independently learning
·
They were using talk to develop their learning
I walked away happy and then replanned every lesson for the
next day, based on this feedback. Things
just happened to go well in that lesson. Sadly, this is the luck of the draw. I
don’t think I would be lucky a second time around.
The Result
Everything about Ofsted is too subjective. The inspector
observing me liked my style of teaching. If I was observed by another inspector,
I don’t know if I would get the same result. I’d like to be pleased with the
result, but part of me doubts things. The inspector in question wasn’t an
English teacher, so would an English teacher give the same grading? I know, I
should be grateful for what I got, but part of me wonders if it is better to be
observed by a subject specialist or somebody from a different subject. They also, in my opinion, went into a lesson looking for something. They knew what they wanted to see. I happened to show it. Maybe, they were looking for independent learning when observing me. It is hard to do everything in 20 minutes and that's why I think I got lucky. I don't feel too good about the result, as I think it may have more to do with luck, than anything else. I did the magic thing that they just so happened to be looking for. That's why lesson observations are a case of hit and miss. I could be an inspector looking for reading skills, yet the 20 minutes observed in a practical aspect of a Science lesson and there is no reading involved. Does the teacher get marked down? Who knows?
Anyway, Tracy Island got a good. We had ‘good’ across the
board in the report. Literacy did really
well too and I will blog about it next. The whole experience was draining. It was
physically and mentally draining. It has taken me the two weeks it takes for
the report to be published for me to get over the whole experience.
Secretly, the main thing we are all bothered about is: How long until they visit us again? Thankfully, they will not visit me for a while. Now, I can get back to doing what I want to do: teach.
Conclusion
Good things can stem from bad things. One of the most
positive experiences from Ofsted is how teachers are pulling together. I have
seen teachers supporting others over the experience. Schools are sharing their
experiences of having a visit from Ofsted. I am sharing my experiences so that
collectively we can work out, what on earth, they want to see. The more we talk and share, the more we know.
Let’s be honest; they are not going to produce a fact sheet about how to get an
outstanding grade in a lesson observation. They are too secretive. Tell us what you
want and we will do it. The mystery and secrecy surrounding Ofsted is causing the
big problems in teaching. Let’s talk, teachers. Talk about lessons. Talk
about what went well. Talk about what didn’t go well. There’s a greater chance
of people getting good or outstanding schools, if we know what one looks like. Please, please, please share your Ofsted experiences with other teachers. Let's help those who still face the scary call when the tiger visits for tea.
At least the visit was better than the old style
inspections. The stress was reduced to fewer days and we didn't have several
days waiting for their arrival.
Thanks for reading,
Xris32
P.S. I will be blogging about Ofsted again, but next time I will write
from a Literacy Coordinator’s point of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.