Dan Owen's presentation on how the new education inspection framework will help to improve educational outcomes for children and young people attending pupil referral units and alternative provision settings.

1. PRUsAP 2019
Improving educational outcomes
through the EIF
Dan Owen HMI
Specialist Adviser
School Inspection Policy
PRUsAP 2019

2. Ofsted strategy 2017–22
▪ The curriculum at the heart of inspection.
▪ No need to produce progress and attainment
data ‘for Ofsted’, helping reduce unnecessary
workload.
▪ All pupils should have access to a high-quality
education.
PRUsAP 2019
‘A force for improvement through intelligent,
responsible and focused inspection and regulation’
The new framework

3. Reducing the focus on data
particularly internal progress data. We hope this will help
reduce unnecessary workload for teachers.
PRUsAP 2019
Help!

4. Separate judgements for ‘personal
development’ and ‘behaviour and attitudes’
PRUsAP 2019
Personal
development,
welfare and
behaviour
Personal
development
Behaviour and
attitudes

5. PRUsAP 2019
▪ We have listened to the concern about this proposal
and we will not introduce on-site preparation.
▪ To keep the benefits, we will introduce a 90-minute
telephone call between the lead inspector and the
headteacher, or their nominated delegate, during the
afternoon before inspection begins.
▪ This will enable professional dialogue to begin
about the education provided by the school and
facilitate planning the inspection together.
Inspection preparation

6. PRUsAP 2019
Increase section 8 inspections from one to two days

7. PRUsAP 2019
New inspection judgements
Quality of
education
Personal
development
Behaviour
and attitudes
Leadership
and
management
Overall effectiveness

8. The quality of education
PRUsAP 2019

9. ▪ curriculum design, coverage, appropriateness
and delivery
▪ teaching (pedagogy)
▪ assessment (formative and summative)
▪ attainment and progress
(including national tests and assessments)
▪ reading
▪ readiness for the next stage of education.
Quality of education judgement
The new quality of education judgement puts the real substance of
education, the curriculum, at the heart of inspection.
Inspectors will have a connected, education-focused conversation,
incorporating:
PRUsAP 2019

10. The curriculum isn’t…
▪just the subject or qualification offer
▪what is assessed
▪experiences, trips etc.
▪the same as teaching activities: the curriculum is WHAT is
taught and not how it is taught
▪about devising extra or more elaborate or
creative activities
▪Something to sort once you’ve ‘decided your intent’
▪vague – it is a specific plan of what children
need to know in total, and in each subject.
PRUsAP 2019

11. Busting the ‘intent’ myth
▪ Intent is about what leaders intend pupils
to learn. It’s as simple as that.
▪ Intent is everything up to the point at
which teaching happens.
▪ Intent is all the curriculum planning that
happens before a teacher teaches the
knowledge that pupils need to learn the
next thing in the curriculum
PRUsAP 2019

12. “So, intent is nothing new. There’s no
need to write new statements, adapt
websites or restructure staffing to
cover intent. Intent is not the next big
thing.”
PRUsAP 2019

13. ‘Good’ intent
▪a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils
▪a curriculum that is coherently planned and
sequenced
▪a curriculum that is successfully adapted,
designed and developed for pupils with special
educational needs and/or disabilities
▪a curriculum that is broad and balanced for all
pupils
PRUsAP 2019

14. SEND and the curriculum
“A child with severe or complex needs
may well take longer to acquire and
build that knowledge than other
children but that doesn’t mean we
should assume it is irrelevant for them,
or limit our efforts to help them
achieve it.”
Amanda Spielman 26th January 2019
PRUsAP 2019

15. Knowledge and progress
PRUsAP 2019

16. ‘Learning is defined as an
alteration in long-term
memory. If nothing has
altered in long-term memory,
nothing has been learned.’
Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011).

17. Knowledge allows…
▪Communication and language development: relevant
knowledge allows successful inferences in written or oral
communications between strangers.
▪Listening and attention: it is hard to listen and respond
when you do not know the meaning of words or social cues.
▪Understanding: rich background knowledge allows mental
space to think about what has been encountered.
▪Speaking: children need the words to express themselves
effectively.

18. 3
4
5
+ 5
3
20
What happens when pupils don’t have necessary
knowledge?

19. PRUsAP 2019
Content selection: does the subject curriculum emphasise
‘enabling knowledge’ and ensure it is remembered?
▪Significant knowledge
▪Knowledge which enables subsequent learning
▪Knowledge which enables a desired complex (skilled)
performance
Sequencing: is subject content sequenced so pupils build
useful and increasingly complex schemata?
What knowledge do pupils need to learn?

20. Knowledge deficits accumulate
when layered on top of one
another in a curriculum sequence.
This accumulation of dysfluency
(gaps) limits and may even
prevent acquisition of complex
skills that depends on their prior
knowledge.
This problem is called
‘cumulative dysfluency’
What happens when pupils don’t learn the knowledge
they need?
Fisher, W. W., Piazza, C. C., & Roane, H. S. (Eds.). (2011). Handbook of applied behavior analysis. Guilford Press.

21. Knowledge does not sit as isolated ‘information’
in pupils’ minds.

23. What did teachers INTEND that pupils would
remember?
PRUsAP 2019
What did teachers
intend that pupils
would remember
and has it been
remembered?

24. How will inspectors consider progress?
‘The curriculum as the progression model’
PRUsAP 2019

25. Common questions
PRUsAP 2019
What if I’m in the
process of changing my
school’s curriculum?
There will be a
transitional period. We
will review the position
after a year.
Is there an ‘Ofsted
curriculum’?
No. We support
curriculum flexibility.
Different schools taking
radically different
approaches to the
curriculum will be
judged fairly.
Should I get advice
from a consultant or
buy in specific
products?
No! There is nothing
mysterious here. The
quality of education is
about schools and
trusts thinking about
the curriculum carefully
for themselves.

26. Inspection model for quality of education
PRUsAP 2019

27. PRUsAP 2019
What will be
included in the
deep dives?
Discussions
with pupils
Discussions
with
teachers
Discussions
with
curriculum
leaders
Visits to a
connected
sample of
lessons
Scrutiny of
pupils’
work
Discussions
with senior
leaders

28. The PRU/AP annex
PRUsAP 2019

29. Applying the EIF in different contexts
“All parts of the education inspection
framework apply to PRUs and other
alternative provision free schools and
academies. However, in the same way
that all school contexts are different, so
are PRU and other alternative providers.”
EIF 2019
PRUsAP 2019

30. Some key areas
▪ Initial assessment and SEND
▪ Curriculum
▪ Partnership working
▪ Aspiration
▪ Destinations and next steps
PRUsAP 2019

31. Safeguarding
“Pupils in PRUs and other alternative providers often have
significant, complex vulnerabilities. In the same way as with
other schools, inspectors will evaluate the ways in which leaders
have made appropriate and effective safeguarding arrangements
for pupils in the light of their higher vulnerability to safeguarding
risks.”
PRUsAP 2019

32. Alternative provision
“If pupils in PRUs and other alternative providers attend off-site
alternative provision, inspectors will evaluate the extent to which
these placements are safe and effective in promoting pupils’
progress. Inspectors must visit a sample of the alternative
providers used.”
PRUsAP 2019

33. A wide variety of contexts
“PRUs and other alternative providers may have different
objectives in their work related to the reasons why a child is
placed in alternative provision…”
“…the core work may emphasise specific improvements in pupils’
attitudes, behaviour and/or attendance alongside their
academic/vocational/technical achievement or be aiming to
reintegrate pupils into mainstream schools.”
PRUsAP 2019

34. Attendance
“Leaders may have a range of ways of evaluating pupils’
attendance given that pupils often join and leave the school roll
at various times of the year. Inspectors will take into account
pupil turnover in the provision when considering evidence for
attitudes and behaviour.”
“Inspectors will evaluate the improvement in pupils’ attendance
from their starting points where this is relevant. Inspectors will
also evaluate the ways in which leaders take account of pupils’
weak attendance in their safeguarding systems and the clarity of
their attendance recording. ”
PRUsAP 2019

35. Thank you
PRUsAP 2019

36. Ofsted on the web and on social media
www.gov.uk/ofsted
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk
www.linkedin.com/company/ofsted
www.youtube.com/ofstednews
www.slideshare.net/ofstednews
www.twitter.com/ofstednews
www.twitter.com/danowenhmi
PRUsAP 2019