As we charge towards the mayhem of Christmas productions and scatter glitter across our classroom floors with merry abandon; I wish you all every joy and happiness this Christmastide. Here is my final Chisnell Chatter for 2023 with a roundup of all things education and research. I hope you find this interesting and insightful.

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Ofsted Publishes its Annual Report 2022/23

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector has published her final annual report. It is heartening to see the many positives picked out in this report. Here are the headlines from the report:

In schools the curriculum focus of inspections has really encouraged schools to think about the quality of their education. 

Subject reports show that curriculum has improved in nearly all the subjects. Schools are now placing a higher value on subjects beyond English, mathematics and science than was the case at the time of our previous subject reports. 

Giving proper time and thought to curriculum has also helped in the early years. This has been particularly important for a generation that missed out on socialising and early education, as a result of the pandemic. 

The teaching of reading in primary schools is also significantly better. More pupils learn to read fluently as quickly as possible. 

There’s been a noticeable rise in attention and policy focus on further education. The introduction of T levels was a step in this direction, and although there have been initial challenges, the determination to reshape further education is clear. The emphasis on skills has also brought new energy to discussions about education after the age of 16. 

Some local authorities have made substantial improvements in social care, with 60% now rated good or outstanding and many sustaining their progress. I hope that the additional scrutiny from the new judgement in ILACS looking at the experience and progress of care leavers and our joint targeted area inspections (JTAIs), which look at the multi-agency response to children and families who need help, will support further rapid improvements for some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people. 

The report, however also outlines some challenges ahead:

The persistent gaps in children’s learning, issues of recruitment and retention, and escalating demands on services that are already stretched thin, especially in SEND and mental health. 

A worrying change in how parents and schools work together since the pandemic.  The unspoken contract between parents and schools, where parents make sure their children go to school every day and follow school rules in exchange for a good education, has been broken. The report states that inspection work has highlighted more children missing school and behaving badly. Re-establishing this social contract is crucial for keeping up the progress made after the pandemic, but it will probably take a long time to fix it fully. 

Persistent absenteeism has also impacted the number children who drop completely from sight of the system. This remains one of the biggest concerns to Ofsted. 

Beyond Ofsted report by UCL

Ofsted have been in the news over the past week as the enquiry into the death of Ruth Perry concluded. As the current Chief Inspector ends her tenure this month there is the hope that the lessons learned will resonate with the inspectorate.

UCL have published their review ‘Beyond Ofsted’ and this presents an alternative to the inspectorate’s quality assurance model. The full report is available here.

The report outlines the following recommendations:

• Every school will conduct its own self- evaluation – the school performance review (SPR) – which it will report to stakeholders. The government will work closely with the whole sector to develop guidance on what the SPR should comprise, which might include mandatory and optional elements. Accountability will then be principally to parents and the wider community.
• Schools will work with an external school improvement partner (SIP), delivering on an action plan, informed by the SPR. Schools in a trust might have a SIP appointed from within that trust. Others would use a SIP provided by their local authority (LA). Some funding may be needed to increase LA capacity for this work.
• While they are working on the SPR, schools will engage in an ongoing dialogue with their SIP who will typically be experienced in school leadership and improvement. They would include serving head teachers.
• SIPs will validate the SPRs.
• The purposes of the SPRs are to enhance schools’ capacity for self-improvement and to provide information to stakeholders. It would not be the means by which a school would be held accountable by the Department for Education (DfE) or by Ofsted.
• Safeguarding audits will be conducted annually by a separate body, under the oversight of a national safeguarding body. LAs will be able to take over the annual safeguarding visits when deemed ready by the national safeguarding body. The public sector equality duty would apply, for both pupils and school staff.
• The role of inspectors will change so that they focus on the governance of, and capacity for, school improvement and respond to any challenges faced, including the relationship between the school and the SIP. They would not routinely inspect teaching practice and pupil outcomes. For schools in a multi-academy trust (MAT),
  the inspection would focus on the capacity and approach of the trust to evaluating its schools’ SPRs.
• The inspectorate will be reformed so that inspectors develop and maintain appropriate training and expertise in the area of school improvement, to be able to build the capacity of the school leadership team. This must include understanding the context of the school, including relevant expertise for specialist settings such as special schools and alternative provision. It must also include a thorough understanding of good school governance.
• Crucially, the inspectorate will be fully independent of government so that it can hold the Government, its policies, and the effects of these policies, to account through system- wide thematic inspections, including sufficiency of teacher supply.
• Our final recommendation is for an immediate pause of routine inspections to allow time to reset and regain the trust of the profession. Duty of care to the profession in order to develop collaborative learning cultures, which generate excellent professional skills and competencies, should be at the heart of any reform.

Inclusion

In her recent blog on inclusion, Cassie Young shares a super graphic from Seainclusion that explains the difference between exclusion, segregation, integration and inclusion. This is a powerful prompt for our school curriculum to consider if this is truly inclusive and demonstrates ambition for all. When thinking of the curriculum through the lens of SEND, Cassie provides us with several points to consider:

• Is the curriculum taught well enough by all staff?  
• Do some subjects offer a better experience? 
• Does there need to be more support for key teachers or support staff
• What approaches do you use to ensure all children can access the curriculum?
•   How do you monitor and evidence this?
• What subject specific scaffolding, adaptations and approaches do you use? (E.G. Maths Manipulatives, Music  using adaptive instruments, P.E using specialist equipment)
•    How do subject leaders use their outcomes to plan next steps for pupils with SEND?
• How do you know as SLT that your curriculum is meeting need?

Cassie’s blog is here and is well worth a read.

Cognitive load theory

Here is a link to a super article that explores cognitive load theory.

Within the article by Reynolds et al, the authors remind us of the importance of streamlining the content of lessons to manage the cognitive load of our pupils.

• Avoid unnecessary information that is not essential to the learning;
• Provide clear and concise explanations that break down complex concepts into smaller, manageable parts;
• Use visual aids to supplement verbal explanations and enhance students’ understanding.

The next step is to that the teacher activates prior knowledge:

• Build in opportunities for retrieval practice
• Intentionally interleave concepts within and across lessons
• Make knowledge ‘sticky’

Target Memory

Kate Jones has written an interesting article on target memory. The article defines target memory as, ‘A target memory is what students are required to recall from long-term memory and is also referred to in cognitive psychology as the ‘target trace.’ Target memories can include facts, vocabulary, ideas, concepts, or content to be retrieved after the initial stages of learning have taken place.

Kate explores the following key reflections on the use of target memory in curriculum design:

1. When designing a curriculum and planning lessons, teachers need to be aware of the content that will form the target memories for learners.
2. During a lesson, the key points should be highlighted and signalled so students understand what the core content is. This can be done during explanations, through slide and resource design, with targeted and specific questioning, and during the consolidation phase of the lesson to check for understanding.
3. Retrieval tasks should be designed to initially quiz learners on specific target memories; after retrieval success, students can then progress onto free recall without cues and prompts.

Improving primary science

The EEF have released a useful guide to strengthening your science curriculum offer. The resource outlines six recommendations for improving primary science, including developing vocabulary and working scientifically.

• Develop pupils’ scientific vocabulary;
• Encourage pupils to explain their thinking, whether verbally or in written form;
• Guide pupils to work scientifically;
• Relate new learning to relevant, real-world contexts;
• Use assessment to support learning and responsive teaching;
• Strengthen science teaching through effective professional development, as part of an implementation process.

Mental Health for pupils

I have come across a super offer by the Happy Confident Company who offer support for the mental health and wellbeing of pupils. Kate works with pupils from EYFS to KS3 and offers a social and emotional literacy programme. If you are interested take a look at these video links for more information.

Happy confident company offer. Early years programme.

Testimonial from a school leader.