The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Ofsted

Lisa Griffin

How to write a school policy: 9 top tips

School policies and procedures demonstrate your compliance with statutory requirements but how do you start to write one? These nine tips will help guide you in creating and reviewing a policy. 1. Correct content Cover what needs to be covered in accordance with legal guidance and Ofsted...
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Jack Procter-Blain

Inspecting e-safety: an update

Schools are struggling to train staff and foster a collective e-safety culture, according to a recent assessment report. How can they ensure that policy and practice are inspection-ready? Attendees at last week’s Bett exhibition were invited to a half-hour seminar on ‘Inspecting Keeping Children...
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Sam Attwater

28 steps to achieving an outstanding early years Ofsted judgement

Sam Attwater outlines the key things your early years setting will need to do to achieve an outstanding Ofsted judgement. Alongside a new common inspection framework , Ofsted has published a revised early years inspection handbook (EIF) which sets out how Ofsted inspects registered early years...
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John Viner

Understanding Ofsted monitoring visits

Monitoring visits from Ofsted changed under the new framework. We look at the differences and what you can now expect. School inspection is currently set out in legislation through the Education Act 2005. In this act, the regular two-day inspection is described in section 5 and ‘other inspection’...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Improving practice to support more able pupils

Elizabeth Holmes outlines what schools need to consider to ensure teachers are equipped with the right tools to support more able pupils. Supporting the individual needs of children is what great teachers do every day. It would be unthinkable to expect to go into a classroom and ‘deliver’ an...
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Lisa Griffin

Ofsted and British values

With increased importance of British values in the new framework, we look at what these really mean for schools and how to evidence for Ofsted. As of November 2014, schools have had to promote British values (BV), so no doubt we’re all very familiar with them. The advice from the DfE is to do this...
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Evie Prysor-Jones

No Ofsted worries with a strong SEND strategy

With the new Ofsted Inspection Framework now in force, there are some simple steps SENCos can follow to demonstrate effective leadership, planning and processes. Evie Prysor-Jones explains. Gareth Morewood has been SENCo at Priestnall School for almost 15 years, so has seen his fair share of Ofsted...
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Lisa Griffin

Youngest headteacher in the UK is outstanding

How did the youngest headteacher in the UK, Siobhan Easton, achieve outstanding in her school’s first Ofsted inspection? Lisa Griffin, content lead for Leadership and Governance, interviews her to find out. Siobhan Easton, aged 27, heateacher at Marine Academy Plymouth (MAP) Primary School is the...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Getting to grips with Ofsted inspection

Love it (and some do) or hate it, Ofsted inspection is a feature of the landscape in the world of education. With a new Ofsted framework due to take effect from September 2015 Optimus expert, Elizabeth Holmes, caught up with Sean Harford , Ofsted’s National Director for Schools, to find out exactly...
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Lisa Griffin

Get ready for the new Ofsted Common Inspection Framework 2015

Following the ‘Better inspection for all’ consultation, and the announcement from Sir Michael Wilshaw today about the changes, the new Ofsted Common Inspection Framework 2015 comes into force in September. In our upcoming webinar, education writer and consultant John Viner will detail the changes...
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