Here are the key findings of OFSTED's annual report for 2013 and their
implications for schools in 2014.
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1. No-notice inspections: From January, inspectors will make
no-notice visits to schools
where behaviour has been identified as a particular concern. Inspectors will
also focus more on culture and behaviour when inspecting schools in the coming
year.
2. Call for more external testing: Wilshaw would like to see the government
reintroduce external testing at the end of key stage 1 and at key stage 3.
In his speech he said that in primary schools the highest proportion of
good teachers were seen in year 6. He believes that if formal testing was
reintroduced there would be a better distribution of staff across schools. He
highlighted that one of the best European performers in the Pisa rankings was
Poland, which has introduced more national testing.
He said: "Talk to any good headteacher and they will tell you it
was a mistake to abolish those tests. If we are serious about raising standards
and catching up with the best in the world, we need to know how pupils are
doing at seven, 11, 14 and 16."
3. Ways to improve English lessons: One suggestion was that pupils
should be encouraged to read for pleasure more. The report said some schools
were distracted by national tests, which do not always assess pupils' wider
reading skills well.
Too little time to complete writing tasks and opportunities for extended
writing were marked as features of English lessons that needed improvement.
Classes also needed to focus more on creative tasks and show pupils the
practical benefits of what they learn, such as how poetry contributes to their
emotional development.
4. Signs of a good leader: The report said the most successful
leaders created an open and constructively challenging climate in their school,
which encouraged teachers to be honest about the areas they needed to improve.
It also said that teachers in these high performing schools were motivated to
improve because pay, other rewards and promotion were linked to the quality of
their teaching.
5. Common misconceptions about good teaching: A belief that the faster the
lesson, the better the learning was a frequent misconception of good teaching.
The report said that although pace is important, as pupils may lose
concentration in a slow lesson, teachers concentrate too often on the pace of
the activity rather than the amount of learning.
Lessons that cram too many activities into a session were also
criticised, as pupils often do not complete tasks and learning is not
consolidated or extended.
6. Leaders should take part in inspections: Gaining an insight
into how other schools work and a better understanding of the inspection
process were among the benefits mentioned by school leaders who took part in
Ofsted inspections. They also said that it helped them develop their teacher
assessment skills and identify areas for improvement.
7. Features of poor maths teaching: Too often maths teachers focused on
the how without addressing the why the report said. In weak maths lessons
teachers typically demonstrated a standard method and gave tips on how to avoid
making mistakes, which did little to strengthen pupils' understanding of the
topic and meant they didn't have a secure foundation on which to build new learning.
8. Best practice needs to be shared across the country more: "We need
to ensure that more of our best teachers and school leaders are incentivised to
go to the areas that need them most," said Wilshaw. He believes that the
government should urgently consider the idea of introducing National Service
Teachers to support "mediocre" schools.
He said: "We must improve the way we nurture the leaders of
tomorrow. If blue-chip firms like Marks and Spencer and BP can identify, train
and support promising candidates over several years, why can't we do the same
in our education system?"
9. Key features of inadequate schools: In a quarter of schools judged
inadequate, the headteacher had been in the post for less than three years and
had not adapted well to the challenges of their new position. In another half
of the schools, the headteacher was long-established or had left the school in
the few months prior to its inspection.
10. Holding academies to account: To ensure that those responsible for
the many academies in multi-academy trusts are held to account, Wilshaw said
Ofsted will conduct focused inspections on the schools in the weaker academy
chains.
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