March 2025
In this edition, I explore Ofsted’s thematic reviews, lethal mutations, SEND and governance and the return from absence interview.
Intrigued? Then read on….
Ofsted thematic reviews
Ofsted published their approach to future thematic reviews of local authorities. These are joint reviews with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.
The visits will explore:
– how local area partnerships are working to meet the needs of these children
– the availability of universal and specialist health services
– the reasons why these children are not in full-time education and what is being done to support them to attend school
– the extent to which information is shared with key partners
– the barriers facing local areas when trying to support these children.
The visits will not result in judgements about individual local areas. Instead, Ofsted will publish an overarching report in autumn 2025 highlighting examples of good practice and any systemic concerns.
Follow this link for further details on the thematic review of children not in school in local areas, published in January 2025.
Governors, trustees and inclusion – a blog by ModernCassie
Cassie is an inclusion lead for Our Community MAT (OCMAT). In a recent blog, she outlines a helpful checklist for governors and trustees in their diligence of reviewing the offer for pupils with SEND in their schools. The checklist outlines evidence that assures the following:
The school promotes an inclusive culture evidenced in the school vision, classroom practice and whole school CPD records.
There is effective communication and engagement between the school and parents of pupils with SEN and disabilities evidenced in feedback from parents, EHCP co-production and minutes from parent forum.
Parents are involved in reviewing the school’s general SEN and disability policy and practice evidenced through parent advisory groups, SEND policies and responses to parental feedback and complaints.
The pupil voice is central to decisions about support for those with SEN and disabilities, at both individual and school levels evidenced through pupil feedback, school councils and pupil surveys.
Funding, including SEN funding, is allocated and spent effectively evidenced through impact analysis of SEND spends, pupil premium reviews and costed provision maps.
The school works effectively with the local authority in reviewing SEN and disability provision evidenced through the SEND information report, meeting notes with outside agencies and engagement with local SEND networks.
Staff have the expertise needed to support pupils with SEN and disabilities and access external specialist skills where required, evidenced through SENCo training records and deployment of external specialists.
Governors and trustees should be satisfied with how the school identifies pupils with SEN or disabilities and applies the ‘graduated approach’ evidenced through clarity in the SEND policy, examples of plan-do-review in action and progress meeting records.
Governors and trustees should be satisfied with how the school monitors the progress and development of pupils with SEN and disabilities, evidenced through SEND tracking data, pupil progress meetings and EHCP annual reviews.
Governors and trustees should be satisfied with how the school supports pupils in preparing for adulthood at each age and stage, evidenced through curriculum planning and transition plans for secondary transition or transition to post-16 education.
Governors and trustees of mainstream schools should ensure that the SENCo achieves the relevant mandatory qualification within 3 years of appointment, evidenced through SENCo acreditations or plans for training if newly qualified.
Governors and trustees of mainstream schools should ensure that the SENCo has sufficient administrative support and time away from teaching to fulfil responsibilities, evidenced through the SENCo’s timetabling of dedicated time and administrative support.
Governors and trustees of mainstream schools should ensure that the SENCo is empowered to support high-quality outcomes for pupils with SEN and disabilities, evidenced through whole school improvement plans and performance management objectives.
Schools have a duty to prepare and regularly update: A SEN Information Report, Equality information (to demonstrate compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty) and Equality objectives. This can be evidenced through the website, annual reviews and published equality objectives.
An accessibility plan (outlining how the school plans to increase access for disabled pupils) can be evidenced through a published accessibility plan and records of curriculum adaptations.
Governors and trustees should also ensure that the school’s SEN and disability policy is reviewed regularly, evidenced through timely updates to the policy, minutes from policy review meetings and parental consultation.
Cassie’s full blog can be found here.
SEND – easy-read guide for parents
The DfE and Mencap have produced a super easy-to-read guide to SEND for parents. While a little dated now (however, it still adheres to the SEND Code of Practice), this is a great document to share on your school websites (or to adapt as your own), especially for parents who may find it hard to navigate your SEND policy and Information Report. Here is a link to the document.
Lethal Mutations – Kate Jones
In her blog for Evidence Based Education, Kate Jones explores the importance of being alert to lethal mutations. The term ‘lethal mutation’, coined by Ed Haertel (Brown and Campione, 1996), refers to the danger of educational research that outlines a particular pedagogical approach being misinterpreted and altered by the practitioner. An example given in the article is the use of retrieval practice—the act of recalling something previously learned from long-term memory. The benefits of retrieval practice for long-term learning are among the most secure findings in educational psychology (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014), so it is not surprising that many schools have enthusiastically embraced retrieval practice. However, in some cases, this has led to teachers being required to use some form of retrieval practice in every lesson, whatever the material being taught and whatever the age of the students. Any evidence-informed strategy or technique is potentially vulnerable to the curse of lethal mutations.
Kate suggests the following methods of minimising the risk of a lethal mutation:
1.Teachers need to understand the research supporting evidence-based practices.
2. Don’t rush to embed evidence-based practices; take time to ensure that the practice is embedded as intended.
3. Context over consistency, namely being clear that research undertaken of a particular pedagogical approach may change in differing context, this may relate to factors such as age ranges of students or the cultural context of the organisation.
Ratio and classroom practice
Ratio is a guiding concept that describes how much thought is taking place in your classroom. In his article on ratio, Adam Boxer reflects on how the work of Rob Coe has influenced his teaching. The idea is simple yet powerful. Take a look at the quadrant below and consider whether your lesson places your students in the top right quadrant.
In short, learning happens when you think hard. The key to moving all students into the top right quartile is to craft questions that engage all pupils in thinking. So much questioning that I see in classrooms focuses on a teacher asking a fantastic question that only one student responds to. The key is not, therefore, simply to ask a great question but to ensure that the pedagogical approach to questioning empowers all students to engage in thinking and responding to this question.
There are a host of questioning strategies that support high participation:
Cold Call
Wait time
Call and response
Mini-whiteboards
Think-pair-share
Say it again better
Whatever your strategy for questioning, you can use ratio to determine the impact of questioning on your students.
AI – Reducing Workload
Artificial Intelligence is here. We are learning in education that there can be benefits from the technology that is emerging for both us as school leaders and our staff and students. Here are some really helpful pointers in how to ask the right questions of AI platforms such as ChatGPT. These were taken from a LinkedIn article by Mehedi Hassan.
1. Project Planning
Prompt: I need to plan a project for [insert project type]. Please create a detailed project plan including objectives, milestones, timelines, required resources, and risk management strategies.
2. Solve Hard Problems Using First Principle Thinking Framework
Prompt: I am having difficulty learning [Insert Topic]. Help me understand it better by using first-principles thinking.
3. Resume Optimisation
Prompt: Can you help optimise my resume for a [insert job title] position at [insert company]? Highlight my relevant skills, experience, and achievements to make my application stand out.
4. Use Stories And Metaphors To Help You Remember Things Better
Prompt: I am currently learning about [Insert Topic]. Covert the key lessons from this topic into engaging stories and metaphors to aid my memorization.
5. Learn And Develop Any New Skill
Prompt: I want to learn [Enter desired skill]. I am a complete beginner. Create a 30 days learning plan that will help a beginner like me to learn and develop this skill.
6. Behavioral Interview Questions
Prompt: “Create a set of behavioral interview questions relevant to the [job] role at [company]. Include a brief guide on how to structure answers using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method, tailored to my needs.” experiences.
7. Accelerate Your Learning With 80/20 Principle
Prompt: I want to learn about [Insert Topic]. Identity and share the most important 20% of the learnings from this topic that will help me understand the 80% of it.
Absence – the return from absence interview
I love workshopping ideas with school leaders. 👍
I spent the day at a wonderful school in Sittingbourne, where the headteacher and I reflected on their strategies to improve the attendance of pupils. We looked at strategies for return-to-work interviews with staff and wondered if this model could be applied to pupils returning after an absence. 💡
We are now trialling this idea to see if a return from absence meetings with pupils can help them catch up and keep up and also improve their future attendance.
Step 1. Unpack the reason for absence and how this (if possible) could be avoided in the future.
Step 2. Check if the student has any unresolved issues that could impact on learning or engagement.
Step 3 & 4.Clarify key learning missed and check which lesson or curriculum area the student feels they will struggle with the most because of missed learning.
Step 5. Select from a menu of action or plan your own adaptation to best support missed learning.
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