This week I highlight preparations you can make for Ofsted inspection, publication of new Ofsted Inspection Dashboards, a reminder on the revised timetable for the consultation and determination of Admissions arrangements for 2017 and notification on updated guidance on handling complaints in schools.

ARE YOU OFSTED READY?
Is your school anticipating inspection this academic year and are you prepared for when the call comes? Have you identified a small number of Governors who will meet with the Inspection team and have you thought about what the inspectors might ask?

I reported on the new edition of the Ofsted Inspection Handbook in the first Friday Update this term and now draw your attention in particular to the section on governance (page 40, point 145):

‘Inspectors will consider whether Governors:

• work effectively with leaders to communicate the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school and develop a culture of ambition
• provide a balance of challenge and support to leaders, understanding the strengths and areas needing improvement at the school
• provide support for an effective headteacher or are hindering school improvement because of a lack of understanding of the issues facing the school
• understand how the school makes decisions about teachers’ salary progression and performance
• performance manage the headteacher rigorously
• understand the impact of teaching, learning and assessment on the progress of pupils currently in the school
• ensure that assessment information from leaders provides governors with sufficient and accurate information to ask probing questions about outcomes for pupils
• ensure that the school’s finances are properly managed and can evaluate how the school is using the pupil premium and the primary PE and sport premium
• are transparent and accountable, including in recruitment of staff, governance structures, attendance at meetings and contact with parents.’

NEW OFSTED INSPECTION DASHBOARDS
From a data perspective there are new Ofsted Inspection Dashboards now available to download from RAISEonline. These are different to the existing Ofsted School Data Dashboards, which show a brief overview of each school’s performance data and are publicly available on Ofsted’s website.

Each Inspection Dashboard is only accessible to the school it concerns. It’s primarily aimed at inspectors undertaking the new short inspections of ‘good’ schools, and features charts showing some of the headline data from RAISEonline. Whilst they only include 2014 data currently, they will be updated once the 2015 data is available and for primary schools this should be mid-October and for secondary schools the end of November.

REMINDER ABOUT THE TIMETABLE FOR ADMISSIONS AUTHORITIES TO CONSULT ON AND DETERMINE THEIR ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR 2017
When we determined Admissions arrangements for 2016, back in the Spring term last academic year, I advised that the timetable for consulting on and determining Admissions arrangements for 2017 had been brought forward as part of the new Admissions Code. I’ve been in touch with the LA’s Access Manager and she will be advising schools of the process for 2017 in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime key points to be aware of:

• Admission authorities must consult when admission arrangements are changed or if they have not been consulted on within the last 7 years – the minimum consultation period is 6 weeks and should take place between 1 October and 31 January;
• schools must determine their admission arrangements by 28 February (previously 15 April);
• Admission authorities must send a copy of their determined admission arrangements to the LA by 15 March (previously 1 May);
• the deadline for objections to the Schools Adjudicator is now 15 May (previously 30 June).

Depending on when your Governing body meetings are scheduled in the Spring term we may need to delegate the determination of your Admissions arrangements to your Admissions Committees.

NEW GUIDANCE ON HANDLING COMPLAINTS TO BE PUBLISHED
The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed it’s currently working on a toolkit on handling complaints in schools, which will include guidance on best practice. Whilst most of you will have already adopted the LA’s guidance it will be interesting to see what DfE has come up with in January 2016 when the toolkit is scheduled for publication.

This week I highlight the publication of new postcards from Ofqual on GCSE, AS and A Level reforms, a new on-line resource of science and maths questions for primary school governors, the launch of the DfE’s Literacy drive and the publication of updated Statutory Guidance on Behaviour and Discipline in schools and Home-School Agreements.

OFQUAL RELEASES USEFUL ‘POSTCARDS’ TO HELP UNDERSTAND EXAMINATION REFORMS
Last week the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) launched a series of eight ‘postcards’ detailing the reforms being made to GCSEs, AS and A levels. Providing information on the new grading structures and how grades are set, the postcards have been sent to all secondary schools in England. Whilst primarily for the use of students, teachers and parents they will also be useful to governors who also need to be aware of these changes.

WELLCOME TRUST PRIMARY SCHOOL QUESTIONS FOR GOVERNORS LAUNCHED
The Wellcome Trust has recently launched a free online resource for primary school governors, on the back of the success of a similar resource aimed at secondary schools. Questions for Governors has a set of questions focused on science and maths, evidence for why they are important, national benchmarks to compare against and ideas for improvement. It can be used by governors for discussions with senior leaders and identify areas to celebrate or challenge.

LAUNCH OF LITERACY DRIVE
This week the Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and children’s author and comedian David Walliams urged leading publishers, schools and early years providers to join forces in a bid to make English pupils the most literate in Europe in five years.  The Department for Education has created new resources in conjunction with 4Children to equip parents and early years providers with high-quality activities and resources to help children master the essentials of language.

In August 2015 Nicky Morgan announced the first steps in the Government’s Literacy campaign, including funding The Reading Agency to extend their Chatterbooks scheme and set up new book clubs in 200 more primary schools across the country and to work with schools and get more Year 3 pupils enrolled at their local library.

UPDATED STATUTORY GUIDANCE ON BEHAVIOUR AND DISCIPLINE AND HOME-SCHOOL AGREEMENTS
This week the Department for Education confirmed it had reviewed and republished its Statutory Guidance on Behaviour and Discipline in schools and Home-School Agreements.

This week I highlight the publication of the final report from The Commission on Assessment Without Levels, the expansion of Tom Bennett’s review into poor behaviour in the classroom and the launch of a project offering free Human Rights lessons.

ASSESSMENT WITHOUT LEVELS
I know many of you received Headteacher’s updates last academic year on how the school was carrying out assessment after the removal of the national curriculum levels system. The Commission on Assessment Without Levels, set up by the Department for Education to help schools to develop and implement new approaches to pupil assessment, yesterday published its final report.

The advice gives schools information on how to develop new approaches based on the needs of the pupils, following the school’s curriculum and supporting effective teaching. The Government also published its formal response to the range of recommendations outlining how it would address the recommendations going forward.

HUMAN RIGHTS LESSONS TO BE OFFERED TO SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND
The BBC has reported that on Monday the Education Secretary and Ms Kennedy, a US human rights activist, will launch a new project designed to start debates about “democracy, respect and tolerance”.

The free project called Speak Truth to Power, teaches students about human rights activists who have challenged oppression and who have faced imprisonment and torture. Teachers will be able to access online material to present the lessons.

The Education Secretary has said she wants the project “to encourage young people to be active and engaged citizens and to leave school well-rounded, confident and resilient.”

IMPACT OF SMARTPHONES ON BEHAVIOUR IN LESSONS TO BE REVIEWED
On 13 September the Schools Minister Nick Gibb, announced Tom Bennett’s review into how initial teacher training prepared teachers for tackling low-level disruption in class would be expanded to look at all of the challenges of managing behaviour in 21st-century schools. The review will also now look at wider issues such as the use of mobile phones and other devices in schools.

This week I highlight the Government’s intention to allow summer born children the right to start in Reception at age 5, the publication of the Government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s review of PSHE and SRE in schools and a new on-line tool for schools to give parents advice on preparing their children for adult life.

SUMMER BORN CHILDREN TO GET THE RIGHT TO START SCHOOL LATER
Earlier this week the Schools Minister Nick Gibb announced the Government’s intention to give summer-born children the right to start in Reception at the age of 5. The Minister said admissions rules must be changed so children born between April 1 and August 31 cannot be forced to go straight into Year 1 if they wait to start school until they turn 5.

He has written an open letter to encourage schools and local authorities to take immediate action, in advance of the proposed changes, and allow summer-born children to start in Reception aged 5 if that is what parents want.

PERSONAL, SOCIAL, HEALTH AND ECONOMIC EDUCATION (PSHE) AND SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS EDUCATION (SRE) IN SCHOOLS: GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
Back in March, Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education, announced some new measures to improve the quality of PSHE, including the development of a new, rigorous PSHE quality mark and working with the PSHE Association to help them quality assure resources.

The Education Select Committee has carried out a review of PHSE and SRE in schools and the Government has now published its response to the report, setting out its commitment to improve the quality of PSHE and SRE in schools.

NEW NATIONAL SAFETY TOOL
The Government has recently launched a new on-line tool for schools to give parents advice and tips on preparing their children for adult life. The new online service, called Parent Info gives parents information to help them navigate the issues children can now face on everything from spotting the warning signs of self-harm, to having a healthy body image and managing money in a digital world. The service will also provide parents with pathways for where they can go for more hands on support on specific issues.

Welcome back after the Summer break, I hope you are all refreshed and ready for the new academic year ahead. This week I highlight updated statutory guidance on the constitution of governing bodies of maintained schools and the publication of the new Ofsted Framework.

UPDATED STATUTORY GUIDANCE ON THE CONSTITUTION OF GOVERNING BODIES OF MAINTAINED SCHOOLS
As anticipated the statutory guidance on the constitution of governing bodies of maintained schools was updated at the end of last month. From 1 September Governing bodies are required to publish governors’ details and the register of interests on their school websites. As we will have some work to do to ensure we meet the new requirements I will be providing a full update paper at our Governing body meetings this term.

Also included in the guidance is greater flexibility of terms of office for governors. Although the maximum term of office remains four years, governing bodies can now specify in the instrument of government that the term of office for an individual governor within a particular category may be between one and four years, as determined by the appointing body at the time of appointment.

NEW OFSTED FRAMEWORK PUBLISHED
At the end of August Ofsted published the final versions of the new Common Inspection Framework (CIF) and inspection handbooks which came in to effect from 1 September.

Ofsted’s National Director for Education (a new role to align with the Common Inspection Framework), Sean Harford, published a blog to accompany the revised guidance, explaining the various changes that had been made to the final versions since the documents were published in draft form back in June. Note this includes a new set of criteria specific to governance.

Inspectors will also assess the arrangements schools have in place to promote pupils’ welfare and prevent radicalisation and extremism.

This is my final update of this academic year. Since September I’ve highlighted amongst other things, the launch of the new national curriculum, a new SEND Code of Practice and Progress 8 School Performance Measures, not to mention a new Conservative government, guidance on the promotion of British Values, revised guidance on the constitution of Governing bodies and the introduction of the new term “coasting schools”, it has certainly been an eventful year.

This week I highlight a paper from the Department for Education (DfE) regarding possible changes to Governing body constitution arrangements, the updated National Governors Association’s (NGA) Skills Audit and Matrix, the production of illustrative regulations on coasting schools and the announcement of a Special Needs expert to head up a review into assessment of pupils with lower attainment.

Have a restful summer break and I look forward to seeing you all again in the Autumn term.

ADVISORY GROUP ON GOVERNANCE DISCUSSION ON CONSTITUTION ARRANGEMENTS
Following the Secretary of State’s speech at the NGA’s summer conference, a paper was released from the DfE last week to members of its Advisory Group on Governance (AGOG) regarding possible changes to Governing body constitution arrangements.

“We want to start a discussion about moving away from prescribed categories of governor to give governing boards more freedom to constitute a board as they see fit to best deliver their non-executive strategic leadership role. It is only after informal discussions that we will look to initiate a formal public consultation”.

A specific discussion will take place at the AGOG meeting on 22 September 2015 to discuss initial views on a number of questions including:

• the role that central government plays in putting parents, staff, headteachers and local authority governors on a board
• the role and interests of foundations
• how diverse the governing board is and the importance of elections
• the constraints of current constitutional requirements
• the identification and prescription of required skills

UPDATE TO NGA’S SKILLS AUDIT AND MATRIX
Late last week the NGA released an updated version of its widely used skills audit and matrix for governing boards. The 2015 skills audit has been improved with the advice of the RSA (the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce) to include skills commonly found in the creative industries. The NGA has also updated its skills matrix which gives an overview of the strengths and weaknesses across a governing board.

EDUCATION AND ADOPTION BILL: COASTING SCHOOLS – ILLUSTRATIVE REGULATIONS
Illustrative regulations have been prepared by the DfE to accompany the passage of the Education and Adoption Bill through Parliament.

SPECIAL NEEDS EXPERT TO HEAD REVIEW INTO ASSESSMENT OF PUPILS WITH LOWER ATTAINMENT
Ms Diane Rochford, Executive Headteacher of the John F Kennedy School, a leading special needs school in East London, will oversee a new review into how to assess accurately pupils with lower attainment.

It is estimated that there are more than 50,000 pupils whose ability falls below the standard required to take national curriculum tests. The review will consider how best to assess the attainment and progress of this group of pupils so that parents know how their children are doing and schools can be given appropriate credit for the work they do to support their pupils. They will consult widely with heads and teachers to find a solution for a comprehensive statutory assessment for these pupils.  The review will publish a final report by December 2015.

This week I highlight the publication of two reports on the impact of the pupil premium since it was introduced in 2011 and some research carried out the Scouting Association looking at children’s perceptions of their emotional and social skills and their attitudes towards opportunities for extra-curricular activities.

REPORTS ON THE IMPACT OF THE PUPIL PREMIUM
Two important reports have been recently released about the impact of the pupil premium since it was introduced in 2011. These reports, one from the Sutton Trust and the other from the National Audit Office (NAO), are useful in helping Governors to understand the current practical applications and challenges of the pupil premium.

RESEARCH ON CHILDREN’S PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL SKILLS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Last week the Scouting Association published research which looked at children’s perceptions of their emotional and social skills and their attitudes towards opportunities for extra-curricular activities. Its report Learning by Doing revealed that many state-school children felt that they didn’t receive the same opportunities for ‘non-formal’ learning than those attending fee-paying schools. Furthermore, those children on free school meals (FSM) were less likely to participate in extra-curricular activities such as sporting, outdoor and volunteering and this in turn, was likely to impact on the attainment of such children.

This week I highlight the Education Secretary’s views on the stakeholder model of school governance, the Government’s definition of ‘coasting’ schools and the publication of new advice and guidance on protecting children from radicalisation.

POTENTIAL MOVE AWAY FROM THE STAKEHOLDER MODEL OF SCHOOL GOVERNANCE
On 27 June the Education Secretary addressed the National Governors’ Association Summer Conference and indicated she was looking at how the stakeholder model of school governance could be moved away from over this Parliament.

She acknowledged that schools needed to fully integrate with their local community, be responsive to parents, connect with, learning from and support other schools and that governors had a crucial role to play in ensuring their school was fully linked with the world outside. However, she didn’t believe the stakeholder model of school governance was necessarily the way to achieve this. What was most important wasn’t the particular group a governor represented, but the skills, expertise and wisdom they brought to the running of the school.

In many cases, schools were already benefiting from recruiting more governors from business backgrounds and over the next 5 years the Education Secretary believes the best run schools will be those with highly skilled governors who can both hold schools to account and direct their future path.  She stressed this was particularly important in the field of financial management – a core function of governing bodies with every governing body and every individual governor taking seriously their role in ensuring that schools remain financially healthy with robust management systems in place.

GOVERNMENT’S DEFINITION OF ‘COASTING’ SCHOOLS
The Education and Adoption Bill has already had its first and second readings in the Commons and the committee stage is expected to be completed no later than 14 July.  The term ‘coasting’ schools is not defined in the Bill but will be defined by regulations. At the end of June, Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, outlined what the standards will be as follows:

• Secondary schools – in 2014 and 2015 the level will be set at 60% of pupils achieving 5 good grades in GCSE exams or an above average number of pupils making good progress. The current floor standard is 40% A*-Cs. From 2016, the level will be set based on Progress 8, the accountability measure which shows how much progress pupils in a particular school make between the end of primary school and their GCSEs.
• Primary schools – using current attainment criteria 85% of pupils should reach an acceptable secondary-ready standard (Level 4) in reading, writing and maths over the course of 3 years, and an average or higher than average proportion be making expected progress.

Schools eligible for intervention will be those which fall below the new ‘coasting’ level for 3 years. They will be required to submit improvement plans to Regional Schools Commissioners. If they are judged to be credible they will receive support; if not, inadequate maintained schools will be converted into academies, while academies are likely to be given new sponsors. The Government expects the measure to create 1000 new academies during the lifetime of this parliament.

ADVICE TO CLARIFY SCHOOLS AND CHILDCARE PROVIDERS’ ROLE UNDER THE NEW ‘PREVENT DUTY’
This week new advice and social media guidance was issued to schools and childcare providers to help them keep children safe from the risk of radicalisation and extremism.  The Government believes building resilience of young people and the promotion of fundamental British values is at the heart of preventing radicalisation. Schools could do this by providing safe places in which children can discuss controversial issues, and be given the knowledge and confidence to challenge extremist beliefs and ideologies.

The advice has been published to coincide with the new prevent duty, introduced as part of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, which legally requires a range of organisations including schools, local authorities, prisons, police and health bodies to take steps to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

This week I provide a summary of the changes to Ofsted Inspection from September and the Government’s response to the Education Select Committee Report on Extremism in Schools.

OFSTED INSPECTION FROM SEPTEMBER 2015: SUMMARY OF CHANGES
Following its consultation earlier this year, Ofsted has released its new inspection handbook and framework which will come into effect from September. The significant changes are:

• A Common inspection framework: aligning inspection across early years settings, maintained schools and academies, non-association independent schools and further education and skills providers. While each remit will continue to have an individual inspection handbook which applies the principles of the common framework, the change is designed to provide consistency and comparability across Ofsted’s education inspections.

• Short inspections for ‘good’ schools: from September, schools that were judged ‘good’ at their most recent inspection will receive a short inspection approximately every 3 years. Inspectors carrying out short inspections will start from the assumption that the school remains good, and will only make judgements on whether this is the case and whether safeguarding is effective. Where the inspectors believe the school may no longer be ‘good’ (either due to improvement or decline), these will be converted into full inspections.

• Changes to the inspector workforce: Ofsted will contract directly with inspectors (rather than outsourcing) and bring training and quality assurance in-house. The majority of Ofsted Inspectors will be current leaders of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ education providers.

Outstanding schools will continue to be exempt from routine inspection, but Ofsted will retain the power to inspect if performance drops or other concerns are raised. The exemption from routine inspection does not apply to ‘outstanding’ Special schools, PRUs and maintained Nursery schools. However, under the new CIF, these settings will have the short inspection if they have been rated ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’.

Key judgements
Ofsted will make graded judgements in the following areas:

• Overall effectiveness;
• Effectiveness of leadership and management;
• Quality of teaching, learning and assessment;
• Personal development, behaviour and welfare;
• Outcomes for children and learners;
• The effectiveness of Early Years and Sixth form provision, where applicable.

Ofsted will report on the curriculum under the judgement of leadership and management.

Inspection of governance
In the new inspection handbook, governance will still be evaluated as part of ‘leadership and management’ and inspectors will consider:

• The leaders’ and governors’ vision and ambition for the school and how these are communicated to staff, parents and pupils;
• The effectiveness of governors in discharging their core statutory functions.

Ofsted has produced a short guide to the new framework which you might find useful.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE EDUCATION SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT ON EXTREMISM IN SCHOOLS
Today the Government published its response to the Education Select Committee’s Report on Extremism in Schools. It acknowledged that the risk of young people being radicalised or drawn into terrorism has risen. ISIL and others were using social media to radicalise and recruit young people, and young people formed a growing proportion of those travelling to Syria and Iraq.

It states schools have a vital role to play in protecting pupils from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, underpinned by the new duty in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 “to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”, which comes into force on 1 July. This reinforces the safeguarding role that schools already play in this area. Schools should also prepare young people for life in modern Britain. At the heart of this is their responsibility to promote the fundamental values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

To help address the problems that emerged in Birmingham schools a new national database of school governors will be created requiring schools to publish the identities of their governors. Requirements on all state funded schools through both statutory guidance and the Academies Financial Handbook will be strengthened and schools will have to publish details of their governors and where they serve on governing bodies of schools elsewhere, to increase transparency to parents and wider communities and enable more effective oversight.

This week I highlight the publication of Ofsted’s new Common Inspection Framework which will come into effect from September, increased responsibilities for Regional Schools Commissioners and announcements from the Education Minister regarding the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and the establishment of a working group to look at behaviour in the classroom.

NEW OFSTED FRAMEWORK ANNOUNCED
On Monday Ofsted’s Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw launched the new ‘common inspection framework’ (CIF) which will come into effect from September. The main changes outlined in his speech were:

• Emphasis on leadership as part of new inspection criteria;
• ‘Good’ schools to be inspected every 3 years;
• Plans to set-up a scrutiny committee in each of Ofsted’s regions to assess and rule on the internal reviews of complaints about inspection;
• Head Teachers who have played a ‘key role’ in turning around other institutions will receive a letter acknowledging their leadership as ‘exceptional’, which will also be sent to the Education Secretary.

Sir Michael indicated Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) principal task when they visited good schools was to determine whether the leadership team, including governors, had the capacity not only to maintain existing standards but to improve them further. He also gave examples of the kinds of questions HMIs will ask during these new inspections as follows:

• Have the leaders got a grip on the institution? Do they fully understand its strengths and weaknesses?
• Have they communicated their strategy for raising standards to the key stakeholders?
• Are they focussed on what really benefits children and young people, rather than wasting their time endlessly preparing for an Ofsted inspection which could be years away?
• Do they refuse to accept excuses for underachievement and are they prepared to go the extra mile to compensate for family background?
• Are they simply presiders over the status quo, content to take the path of least resistance or are they prepared to challenge staff and students to do better?
• Have they built, or are they developing, a culture that is calm, orderly and aspirational?
• Are they, for example, people who tolerate scrappy worksheets? Or are they people who insist that children should have good materials to work with?

REGIONAL SCHOOLS COMMISSIONERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES INCREASED
On Monday, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Nash sent a letter to all Directors of Children’s services informing them he had delegated decision-making on tackling under-performance in local authority maintained schools, through sponsored academy arrangements to Regional School Commissioners (RSCs). From 1 July 2015 formal decisions on who is the most appropriate sponsor and levels of funding will now be taken by the RSCs on behalf of the Secretary of State.

DFE UPDATE
On Tuesday the Education Minister, Nicky Morgan, visited King Solomon Academy in London and announced changes to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and the establishment of a working group to look at behaviour in the classroom.

The old grading system of A* to U is already being replaced with a new scale of 9 to 1 and the Minister confirmed that for the new GCSEs that start being taught this September, a ‘good pass’ will be set at a grade 5. That’s at the top of the current grade C and the bottom of the current grade B.

The Minister also announced that Tom Bennett, a renowned behaviour expert, had agreed to chair a working group to look at behaviour content in training for new teachers building on the best evidence about what works to help them manage classrooms and manage behaviour.