This week held our second ‘A Day with Ofsted’ event of the year, as an event it was most enjoyable. Enjoyable…a day spent with Ofsted you say?
I appreciate that for some in our sector (and beyond), the idea of spending a day with seven Ofsted inspectors out of choice may seem a little strange...
To then class it as an enjoyable experience could increase this to odd. But AELP’s ‘A Day with Ofsted’ really is. The day was filled with enthusiasm from attendees looking forward to hearing insights from inspectors and fellow providers. It is thought-provoking and the collaborative nature of the workshops enables sharing of knowledge and ideas between providers.
They day started with Paul Joyce HMI, Deputy Director for Further Education & Skills at Ofsted, giving a thorough overview of last year’s Chief Inspector’s report. This gave the room a clear picture of inspection trends and recent updates of activity that has occurred at Ofsted since Sir Martyn Oliver took over.
One of the highlights of the day was hearing directly from providers about their experiences of inspection. We heard Jane Firth of Remit Training about their own journey to an ‘Outstanding’ inspection result. Remit shared how they had taken a “prepared, not scared” approach to inspection – including how they had never aimed for ‘Outstanding’ but succeeded by taking a consistent and thorough approach and by being able to articulate actions and their impact during inspection.
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The workshops were really well attended and gave attendees the opportunity to directly engage with inspectors and ask questions of them. I attended the Personal Development, Behaviours and Attitudes session where we looked at how to work these activities into delivery from day one but also how to involve employers in this aspect particularly for apprenticeship provision.
Ending the day on a high, we heard directly from two recently inspected providers with quite differing provision about their inspections. Rachel from Learning Curve explained how she had led five or six inspections last year due to the organisational set up, but that she still saw them as positive experiences.
If you’re considering coming next year, then please do! Even if you are an experienced Ofsted veteran, it’s a really useful day to refresh your understanding and network with others who may have ways of approaching delivery that you haven’t considered.
Finally, thanks to Bud Systems for sponsoring the event without their support it wouldn’t have been possible to deliver such an informative event.
A Day with Ofsted - Manchester 2024
By AELP’s Policy & Stakeholder Manager – Helen Cuthbert
