The revised Inspection Handbook refers to personal data Ofsted may hold. This includes information about staff employment and performance, staff’s personal opinions relevant to their work, details of previous employment/references from staff files, and other suitability checks. We find the reference to staff’s personal views about their work interesting and wonder how damaging any negative […]
It’s been an interesting month as regards inspections. August saw many new providers enter the scene and receive their new provider monitoring visits; interestingly, all achieved at least reasonable progress. It may interest readers to know there are around 150 providers who have not been inspected under the EIF, with the earliest going back to […]
“There is no such thing as too much horsepower, just not enough traction.” – Carroll Shelby The above quote from Carroll Shelby, the renowned American car engineer famous for muscle cars such as the Shelby Cobra, invoked the thought, how many great new teaching initiatives or delivery ideas have been developed but have yet to […]
Feedback during the Big Listen highlighted inspectors’ lack of curriculum knowledge. They often reported on common themes and missed high-level skills developed. The EIF is an education framework, and inspectors must evaluate broader education beyond skills. Fin promotes having a specific personal development curriculum covering broader skills all learners need to progress in work and […]
Many providers rightly lament that inspectors often have little or no understanding of the subject matter they are evaluating. The impact is evident in reading some reports where the skills developed and complexities of training are ignored, but aspects such as healthy lifestyles, English and mathematics, Prevent duty, etc., become the main focus. It’s also […]
To be successful, providers must rely on management data to monitor performance trends. Most recent MI software systems are extremely good at producing consistent reports, mainly where reports were previously created on spreadsheets or less detailed software systems, resulting in versions telling a different story. As we have previously said, introducing new systems, strategies, or […]
As reported last month, the focus remains on staff teaching skills and CPD. Learning strategies such as Bloom’s taxonomy to scaffold learning may be fifty years old, but the principles and process of knowledge and understanding before being able to develop and create still apply. Is there a danger that we chase the latest sparkling […]
After twelve months of monitoring published inspection reports, CPD has now overtaken careers advice as the most frequent AFI. We’re requesting all members to complete our workforce development survey, follow this link to the survey and join our complimentary session on 27th March to discuss planning for CPD. FIN Members – To read the full […]
We’ve previously been critical of teacher education quality, and there’s little evidence it’s improving, as found in a large ITE provider report published just last week as inadequate. Teachers need our full support so the initial training needs to be at least good. “Leaders do not plan a curriculum that adequately informs trainees about the […]
Usually, with a ‘good’ Ofsted report, there is no expectation of a return for four to five years. Recently, a GFE college inspected in May 2022 as good saw inspectors return in September 2023, downgrading the outcome to requires improvement. The college was not expecting a return visit, so what triggered this? The FE press […]
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