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Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman will give evidence to the Parliamentary education committee ( @CommonsEd) shortly. Please stand by for tweets #edselctte
After some technical glitches with the sound, we can finally hear @amanda_spielman. Asked whether she recommended more active role for Ofsted in scrutinising learning, she says she stressed importance of clear expectations and offered "support" #edselctte
Asked about what Ofsted can do to assess remote learning, Spielman says she "would have liked" opportunity to work more closely with schools, but there were "no expectations" set for schools last year #edselctte
Asked whether she should have done more on lost learning, Spielman said: "We threw ourselves into contributing to the efforts to support children" #edselctte
Spielman says it was a "very difficult" situation, but expectation was "suspended by government". Says she talked "publicly and privately" about importance of putting expectations of remote learning in place #edselctte
Asked what's changed this term, Spielman says government guidance makes clear the remote learning requirement, and Ofsted now has "permission" to go into schools #edselctte
Asked how many Ofsted employees were redeployed and how many were under-occupied. Spielman says around 700 staff were redeployed externally. Says around a quarter were still needed for emergency inspection #edselctte
Asked how many staff were under-occupied, Spielman says it was a "small minority" #edselctte
Asked about inspections next year and what "minimum" level of scrutiny is needed, Spielman says she believes it's "very important" that inspections resume in new year but "it's got to be at the right time and in the right way". Says Ofsted discussing with ministers #edselctte
"We'll look at how the curriculum is delivered," says Spielman, when asked whether Ofsted will inspect remote learning #edselctte
. @halfon4harlowMP says he still doesn't understand why inspection of remote learning couldn't have been done over the past six months #edselctte
"Most children have suffered at least to some extent," warns Spielman, as she gives a summary of the findings of recent visits
Ofsted has published some details today
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/rise-in-self-harming-pupils-exclusions-concern-and-heads-firefighting-ofsteds-latest-visits-analysis/
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Ofsted has published some details today
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/rise-in-self-harming-pupils-exclusions-concern-and-heads-firefighting-ofsteds-latest-visits-analysis/
#edselctte
Spielman says the problems have "disproportionately" affected disadvantaged children. Many parents have "really struggled" to provide support children need to learn at home #edselctte
Spielman is again asked whether Ofsted should have "got involved" earlier. She says inspectorate has a function "only of inspection", and why its capacity was offered to the wider support effort #edselctte
Spielman is asked if it was a "coincidence" that Ofsted published its report on its interim visits this morning, and asked why Ofsted didn't publish it earlier so MPs could scrutinise. She says reporting was planned "months ago", and MPs were given advance sight #edselctte
Tom Hunt MP asks what will happen if inspectors go back to schools and find "serious deficiencies" in terms of online learning. "To what extent will that be taken into account in an Ofsted judgment?" #edselctte
Spielman says no decisions have been taken on when inspections will resume. Up to education secretary. She points out Ofsted looks at schools "as we find them", but where children are struggling Ofsted will look "really hard" at how curriculum being delivered #edselctte
Spielman describes "difficult balancing act" between expecting of schools "everything they can and should be able to marshal with what's at their disposal in the context they're working in without holding them responsible for things that they cannot reasonably be expected to do"
Spielman is asked to what extent autumn visits have been reflective of the "full experience" of schools and colleges. She says schools weren't self-selecting after the initial pilot phase. She says less than 2% asked for a deferral #edselctte
David Johnson MP says some schools in his constituency want full inspections because they feel they've improved. Asks if schools can request a full inspection. Spielman says she's heard similar and "message is heard loud and clear" #edselctte
Spielman says routine inspection is currently suspended by the education secretary, but once that's lifted, there is provision in law that lets any school request an inspection #edselctte
Johnston asks whether schools can borrow inspectors for school improvement. Spielman says they did receive suggestions they should be in schools, but this didn't "translate into an actual desire to have inspectors", whereas requests from local gov did #edselctte
Spielman is asked whether Ofsted discusses with schools their use of catchup funding. She says she believes it has been discussed in context of interim visits. "At this stage most schools are at a fairly early stage of working out what to do with it" #edselctte
Spielman says she doesn't think Ofsted is yet in a position to judge schools' efforts to address attainment gap. "We are only working with this interim visit approach" #edselctte
Asked whether Ofsted has provided any "action plan" to address regression of pupils, Spielman says that would be outside Ofsted's remit, but reports like the one published today provide "insights" #edselctte
Spielman says regulation lifting outstanding inspection exemption has come into force
"I think it was finally published today". Says she's "delighted" as she's been pressing for it since she started in the job
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"I think it was finally published today". Says she's "delighted" as she's been pressing for it since she started in the job
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Spielman is asked if Ofsted is training inspectors to inspect remotely or in "hybrid way".
"For whatever we put in place we design thorough and careful inspector training that all inspectors go through before they start applying the model"
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"For whatever we put in place we design thorough and careful inspector training that all inspectors go through before they start applying the model"
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Spielman is asked about home education and how quality of education can be assured.
She says the "invisibility" of children home educated "has been a concern of mine for years"
"We've been pushing for a long time for a basic registration requirement"
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She says the "invisibility" of children home educated "has been a concern of mine for years"
"We've been pushing for a long time for a basic registration requirement"
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Spielman is asked about off-rolling. She says Ofsted has had some "very tough" inspection conversations and has reported on a "number of schools" where it's been found
"We've been very clear this is something we regard as unacceptable"
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"We've been very clear this is something we regard as unacceptable"
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However, Spielman says that while inspections are suspended, that "lever, that push in the system is gone"
"We can talk about it but without the lever behind it at the moment I simply do not have a sense of quite how serious a problem it is"
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"We can talk about it but without the lever behind it at the moment I simply do not have a sense of quite how serious a problem it is"
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Ofsted is working on a "series" of curriculum reviews due to be published over the next "year or so", says Spielman #edselctte
Spielman is asked how many schools inspectors contacted to help with home learning during lockdown. She says Ofsted was not making unsolicited offers of help.
"Why not?" asks @halfon4harlowMP
"I approached it systemically. Ofsted is a very small organisation"
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"Why not?" asks @halfon4harlowMP
"I approached it systemically. Ofsted is a very small organisation"
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"We were extraordinarily conscious of the need not to put burdens on schools," explains Spielman
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Yvette Stanley, Ofsted's director of regulation and social care, says the inspectorate got involved in schools via the REACT system, which was coordinated by the regional schools commissioners #edselctte
Asked whether she thinks it's fair to keep league tables going this year, Spielman says she's not aware that any decisions have been made on that #edselctte
"Whatever decisions are taken the critical thing here is that any testing programme is used well and any results from it are used with a proper understanding of how they should be interpreted and used and what cannot be concluded" #edselctte
"Nobody will be able to look at any kind of test or exam results over the next couple of years and say there should be a smooth series with everything going up and nothing deviating" - Spielman #edselctte
Spielman is asked about inspection of multi-academy trusts.
She says it's "one of the frustrations" of Ofsted during the pandemic, it's had to put on hold not just its inspections but its MAT evaluations programme.
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She says it's "one of the frustrations" of Ofsted during the pandemic, it's had to put on hold not just its inspections but its MAT evaluations programme.
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Asked again about outstanding schools exemption lifted, Spielman says the longest a school has gone without inspection is "12 or 13 years"
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Asked whether Ofsted has been asked to inspect outstanding schools on a "voluntary basis", Spielman says she doesn't know, but some have been inspected on a risk assessment basis #edselctte
Spielman is asked whether pause has caused "blind spot" on unregistered schools.
She says that team has continued working, and looked at concerns about some schools "not just operating as unregistered provision but also carrying on in the face of lockdown regulations"
She says that team has continued working, and looked at concerns about some schools "not just operating as unregistered provision but also carrying on in the face of lockdown regulations"
Spielman is asked about inspection of careers advice. She says she believes Ofsted has reported on examples of bad practice, and that statutory requirement is "very clear" #edselctte
Asked whether Ofsted could strengthen emphasis on careers advice in framework, Spielman says it is "already particularly strong", and one of the few things Ofsted inspects on in its own right #edselctte
Spielman is asked by the committee to write with information on schools' compliance with the so-called "Baker clause" #edselctte
On relationships and sex education, Spielman says it's "very helpful" DfE has issued some explicit guidance as certain issues have become "more contested". Unclear if she's talking about statutory guidance published last year or the non-statutory guidance out this year #edselctte
Spielman says Ofsted does its "utmost" to approach these issues "sensibly and constructively" but says there's sometimes "a clear tension between the law and what faith groups would require" #edselctte
. @halfon4harlowMP again asks why Ofsted didn't inspect remote education during first lockdown #edselctte
"Because remote learning is one way of delivering a curriculum, it's not a separate thing from teaching... If you have suspended the expectation that a school teach any particular curriculum in any particular order, then that applies whether it's in a classroom or remotely"
"You can't say 'let's look at one thing, the remote bit completely separately'. It's looking at the totality of the curriculum" #edselctte
. @halfon4harlowMP asks about the Careers and Enterprise Company and whether Ofsted should inspect quality of provision funded by it.
Spielman: "I know very little about the CEC and its current profile of work. I would be happy to have discussions with the DfE"
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Spielman: "I know very little about the CEC and its current profile of work. I would be happy to have discussions with the DfE"
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Spielman is asked whether exams should take place next year with a delay as government is proposing.
"I think it's very important before making sudden drastic changes in how a system works to think about how it will go down at the receiving end..." #edselctte
"I think it's very important before making sudden drastic changes in how a system works to think about how it will go down at the receiving end..." #edselctte
"Taking away the opportunity of young people's own agency in demonstrating what they can do is something we should think very carefully about before doing" - Spielman #edselctte
Spielman also warns that "many schools fear" that if exams are cancelled, a "large proportion of older children simply wouldn't return to school for the rest of the academic year" #edselctte
Spielman: "I have not yet seen anything that suggests that pulling exams as we did last year is the sensible default route to go down this year" #edselctte
Spielman says she doesn't think "anybody has a magic wand that can say everybody will catch up entirely inside this year", adding it's going to be a "multi-year project" #edselctte
Spielman is asked whether she agrees Ofqual should allow for grade inflation next year.
She says this is something that should be covered with Ofqual chief Glenys Stacey.
She says "immense" amount of work is going into considering pros and cons
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She says this is something that should be covered with Ofqual chief Glenys Stacey.
She says "immense" amount of work is going into considering pros and cons
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"it's very clear that those coming through for exams this year have actually had a tougher time than last year's year 11s and 13s," adds Spielman #edselctte
. @halfon4harlowMP asks if one way of solving problems is to have exams only in core subjects and CAGs in others
Spielman: "That is the kind of option that is under consideration, but every option creates some unfairnesses"
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Spielman: "That is the kind of option that is under consideration, but every option creates some unfairnesses"
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That's the end of the committee hearing. Thanks for following!
