[Malcolm Armsteen]

Good luck.

[satnav]

Cheers.

To be honest I'm hoping to switch jobs in the next few weeks so I won't be losing any sleep over the inspection. It will however be interesting to see are many of our more difficult students suddenly disappear over the next two days.

[satnav]

Well that was an interesting day at school. When I arrived at the carpark at my usually time there were no spaces at all so I had to drive round to the PE department to park up. As I walked to the staffroom I saw a dozen or so staff from other schools patrolling the corridors ensure that everything was going smoothly.

First lesson I was running one of the support rooms so I had a quiet hour undisturbed by the inspectors. For the second lesson I was in a Year 7 Science lesson where there were several students with special needs. Halfway through the lesson two inspectors came in closely followed by the Director of Science for the Trust who proceeded to follow the Inspectors around the classroom checking what they were doing. They left after 15 minutes but then at the end of the lesson the Director came in to tell the science teacher what had been discussed. One of the inspectors was concerned that the teacher had not properly checked that students understood one of the topics discussed but the Director told the inspector that he knew that the teacher always went over stuff at the end of lesson to ensure pupils had understood what had been taught.

I then went to a form period and two different inspectors came in. We have recently switched around all our forms so most staff don't know most of the students in their form but fortunately todays task was silent reading so I just rushed around ensuring every student had a book to read.

I then went to the staffroom for a coffee to discover that an old office at the back of the staffroom is now a classroom for students who often misbehave in lessons. This seems to have been a clever wheeze on the part of SLT because there is an unwritten rule which says that OFSTED staff never enter the staffroom. So basically there is virtually no way that OFTED will go and see what is happening in the room.

In the third lesson two more inspectors came into a Maths lesson closely followed by the Director of Maths for the trust. The Maths teacher is very experienced so the lesson went very smoothly and the Inspectors only stayed in for 15 minutes.
I managed to dodge the Inspectors period 4 because I was in a Year 11 PE lesson. In the final lesson of the day I was in a Year 11 History class with several SEN students in the lesson. The Inspector came in half way through the lesson with the Director of Humanities closely shadowing her. Because the lesson was well underway and the class was settled there really wasn't much to see.

In my 30 years working in Secondary schools I have never known a situation in which Inspectors have been followed into lessons nor have I ever worked in a school where the number of staff on site has been inflated by 30% just for the sake of an Inspection. This really seems to make a mockery of the whole system. While Trusts with 30 or more schools can resort to be tactics by borrowing staff from other schools for the day it is very unlikely that a Local Education Authority could put on such a show of strength if one of their schools was being inspected.

What is a real concern is that our CEO is going to become the chief Ofsted inspector in the New Year so this could well become the way in which inspections take place going forward.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Interesting. Following the inspectors around is a new one on me.

Telling, isn't it, that Ofsted can make a judgement on a school or teacher on the basis of 15 minute visits to a handful of lessons? The system stinks, and Ofsted have been gaming it long enough, it's good to see someone else do the same.

[satnav]

When I was talking to my wife about the inspection she said she often encounters similar tactics when she goes over to America to audit food factories. The factory own will often have an attorney in the factory trying to dictate what she can or can not do in the factory. Or the factory owner will promise to do remedial work after she's gone backed up with a letter from his attorney. All this does it make my wife more determine to look as carefully as possible for any non-conformities.
And then once she issues her report the company appealing against the findings even when my wife has about 300 photographs backing up her findings.

[Andy McDandy]

Argue the toss, quibble about everything, record everything anyone says, subtly put pressure on the visitors to leave.

[Bones McCoy]

I've seen similar things in computer support.
Unfortunately the worst examples involved private companies doing government work.

Here's the Dept of Justice. They're paying for six staff, so today six of the eight of you will do DOJ work.
Another day it's come brass form the armed services. The MOD pays for 8 staff, so we're all looking busy on military stuff.
Still later, Dep't of transport who need to see five bodies delivering their stuff.

However you slice it, the team's 8 strong, but the company has the government paying them for nineteen staff.

[satnav]

We were given some feedback from the inspection today. Apparently we are now classed as a good school so we are no longer in special measures. Some of the comments made by the inspectors are hilarious. They claim that they saw no evidence of bullying in the school. Given that the Trust created an hostile environment by bringing in 30 extra staff to stalk and harass the inspectors clearly passed the inspectors by. There were also a number of negative comments on the questionnaires submitted by parents. The inspectors response was that 'these parents have clearly never visited the school'.

The school has a very high level of suspensions but SLT basically told the inspectors that the suspensions were needed because behaviour was so poor when the Trust first took over. When the trust took over two and a half years ago the head said he would solve the behaviour problems within 6 months so it is hard to see how the Trust can continue to argue that over the top measures are still required to deal with the behaviour issues.

Yesterday Gillian Keegan was bragging about how the number of schools rated as 'good' or 'outstanding' had risen sharply over the last 13years, clearly if it is now so easy to manipulate inspections it is hardly surprising that so many schools are having positive inspections.

[Watchman]

I’m sure the hedge fund parents will bail them out, or expect the state to. Does OFSTED have any powers in these situations?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... nsion.html

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Nope.

It's terribly sad...

[Bones McCoy]

I’m sure the hedge fund parents will bail them out, or expect the state to. Does OFSTED have any powers in these situations?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... nsion.html

The comments are a reminder of deranged mailite syndrome.

15% - some public school parents work very hard, four jobs, uphill - both ways...
20% - Starmer's woke mission starting early.
20% - It's the "new arrivals" fault - nudge nudge - knowworrimean!
20% - Some kind of Famous five themed utopian view of schooling.
5% - Know there's some kind of devious accounting involved.
10% - Bladdy Caahcil!!

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Some proper cunts in those comments.

[RandomElement]

I’m sure the hedge fund parents will bail them out, or expect the state to. Does OFSTED have any powers in these situations?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... nsion.html

The comments are a reminder of deranged mailite syndrome.

15% - some public school parents work very hard, four jobs, uphill - both ways...
20% - Starmer's woke mission starting early.
20% - It's the "new arrivals" fault - nudge nudge - knowworrimean!
20% - Some kind of Famous five themed utopian view of schooling.
5% - Know there's some kind of devious accounting involved.
10% - Bladdy Caahcil!!

Seeing how people believe in Flat Earth and Chemtrails and other far-out conspiracy theories, they probably believe this is true, and no matter how much evidence is supplied, they won't change their minds.

'Starmer able to dictate government policy while being totally useless' .

[Bones McCoy]

At least "Ayatollah" Sadiq Khan got away with it this time.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Can you spot the slight problem with this league table? I'm amazed they put this out when they got the results.

To any university not scoring highly on social mobility, all they have to do is move to London. Where they'll get a load of high achieving poor students who will live at home (saving them money on accommodation) and have a good job market to move into. Whatever you do, don't get stuck with provincial poor kids who won't have good local jobs available, and won't be able to afford to move to London.

I assume that Aston and Bradford get lots of poor kids who live at home, but fall down by only having poor cities nearby for them to get jobs in afterwards. The third and last entry from outside London is Hertfordshire. They have access to London jobs, and probably some poor kids from Hatfield and Stevenage, but not enough of them. Move to London, chaps.

I'd venture all this tells you not very much about the quality of the HE institution. It's sort of amusing, but there's the danger it'll be used as an excuse to shit on universities in Sunderland, Huddersfield, Wolverhampton etc.

[Watchman]

Another well thought out intervention

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... dance.html

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Is this the third or fourth time she has announced this 'policy'?

It's just red meat for the old cunts in the local parties. Everyone else seems to think it's handleable (eg all phones switched off during lesson times, confiscated if found in use...) and has been for 20 years now.

"It's to prevent cyberbullying" - utter bollocks, that doesn't happen during the school day, it happens at lunchtimes and evenings. But, of course, the shrivelled testicle-faced pieces of excrement that read The Express would ban phones altogether if they could because other people like them.

And, of course, heads and teachers just love it when some under-educated gobshite knows better than they do how to do their jobs...

[Malcolm Armsteen]

A great speech by Bridget Phillipson to the Association of School and College Leaders, well worth your time:
https://www.bridgetphillipson.com/speec ... e-leaders/

I'll just quote the last part, which moved me.

When Keir Starmer talks about our Mission to break down the barriers to opportunity, when I talk about it, we focus on the change we know we can deliver. But I ask you to remember, what Labour governments can do, have done, will do, to make our country and our education system once again a source of pride
And lastly, I want each of you to think of someone in each of your schools. I want you to think of a shy, quiet girl, starting school.
Free school meals.
Single parent family.
A bit too obviously unsure, if she fits in.
Still settling in, still trying to make friends.
No winter coat, or perhaps one a size too big or too small – noticeable, it’s been cold the last fortnight.
Nervous and anxious about her future.
And when you are back in schools and colleges across this country, delivering for our young people, as you do, week in and week out I want you to remember, if Labour are lucky enough to win the general election. that in Keir Starmer’s government, that girl, she will be the Secretary of State for Education, and she will never forget the difference, that each of you as heads, principals, and teachers can make to all our lives, and that she will want that difference, for all our children, in all our schools.

[Andy McDandy]

Good speech, I wonder if Bridget's a Boardwalk Empire fan?

Just because in one episode Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) makes a similarly styled speech to a temperance society. Goes down a storm.

[Abernathy]

Yeah, loved that. Bridget is quite marvellous. In a future post-Starmer age, she will lead the party. Mark my words.