May 2013

The know zone

  • Positively inspirational
    ASCL Annual Conference 2013 More
  • Policy excess
    Schools often believe that the preponderance of policies and procedures they have in place will protect them when things go wrong. But as Richard Bird discovers, this is not necessarily so... More
  • A sting in the tail
    The Department for Education’s (DfE’s) universal funding formula is too simplistic and at odds with its efforts to create a fair system, says Sam Ellis. And some schools will suffer as a result. More
  • Lead vocals
    Quotes from Erica Jong, François Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Benjamin Franklin, Lemony Snicket and Bede Jarrett More
  • Aim Higher
    Carol Holmes is an assistant headteacher and is the director of teaching and learning at Westhoughton High School in Bolton. She was a recipient of one the University of Oxford Inspirational Teachers Awards last year in recognition of helping a student secure a place at Christ Church College. More
  • Tricky Waters...
    The issue of whether or not to pay governors was raised again recently by Sir Michael Wilshaw. Would paying governors enhance the calibre of people who apply? Here leaders share their views. More
  • The perfect match
    Register & Be A Lifesaver (R&Be) is an education programme run by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, in conjunction with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). More
  • Adding value
    ASCL premier partner, SIMS wants to support schools to get the most out of their Student Information Management System (SIMS) software, to ensure that the software is making a difference to pupil progress and outcomes. More
  • It’s good to talk...
    In his speech to ASCL's Annual Conference, Brian Lightman invited anyone with an interest in education to take part in a Great Debate about its future. Here, he explains the rationale for this ambitious undertaking. More
  • Leader's Surgery
    The antidote to common leadership conundrums… More
  • Voyage into the unknown
    Grievances and resignations, endless meetings and time management issues… and what to buy colleagues in the ’Secret Santa’. These are all trials and tribulations to be faced by the new head. More
  • Searching for answers
    With the long-awaited proposals for the National Curriculum finally published in February, that and changes to qualifications dominated the discussion in the plenary sessions at February’s Council meeting. More
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LEADERS’ SURGERY

The antidote to common leadership conundrums…

Academies and inspection

Q. Our school recently converted into an academy but we are unsure about when we will next be inspected by Ofsted – can you please advise?

A. There has been a lot of confusion about the timing of inspection of academies, even within Ofsted itself. Broadly speaking, it depends on what type of academy school it is and on when it became an academy. There are two types of academy schools – converter academies, which are existing schools that have been approved to convert to become an academy – and sponsor-led academies, including free schools, studio schools and University Technical Colleges (UTCs). Here is a more detailed summary of Ofted’s position on this issue:

  • When an academy school is established, it has a new legal status and is a new school.
  • Inspection arrangements for converter academies are determined by the inspection history of their predecessor school. So if that was judged ‘good’ at the last inspection, it will normally be inspected within five years from the end of the academic year in which that inspection took place.
  • Sponsor-led academies that opened on or after 1 September 2011 will be inspected within two years of opening.
  • Ofsted will conduct a section 8 monitoring inspection of any academy whose predecessor school was in a category of concern at the time of its conversion to academy status.
  • Academy schools will be subject to the same arrangements for inspection frequency as maintained schools.
  • These principles do not prejudice the chief inspector’s discretionary power to conduct an inspection at any time under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005: to “inspect any school in England in circumstances where he is not required to do so by section 5…”
  • Ofsted sources its data directly from Edubase (the DfE database) and schedules inspections at least one or two terms in advance, so the data is not always correct.
  • If the predecessor school was in a category of concern, Ofsted will usually monitor it two terms after conversion.
  • Although inspection judgements of predecessor schools do not carry over to new schools, where the predecessor school of a converter academy was judged ‘outstanding’, it is possible that the school will be exempt from inspection.

Advice on IT solutions

Q We are thinking of introducing tablet devices in our school – is there anything we should do in preparation?

A Yes – there are four key areas that schools need to think about prior to introducing new IT devices. First, consider how you want learners and teachers to interact and use technology now and in the future as part of a three-year plan. This will help you to ensure that you have
a long-term strategy. Second, ensure that all teachers are trained in using the new devices for learning and are clear about the expectations for how they will be used as part of lessons. Too often schools implement technology without thinking carefully about what they want to achieve. Third, ensure that your ICT usage policy is up to date and reflects the new technology. Finally, before purchasing mobile devices, check that your wireless local area network (WLAN) is up to date and can cope with high demand, as wireless devices are useful learning tools but are slower than laptops and PCs and can slow your wireless network when multiple devices connect at once.

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LEADING READING