Achieving success in your Ofsted Early Years

InspectionDr Julian Grenier

Headteacher, Sheringham Nursery SchoolEast London Partnership - www.eleysp.co.uk

@juliangrenier

This session will cover•Teaching, learning and assessment in the EYFS, with reference to Ofsted’s Common Inspection Framework•Outcomes and equality•Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

and I will argue that …We should not use the Ofsted monster to motivate or to coerce our teams.

We should be leading the pedagogy and growing our teams, as early years teachers.

The importance of values and principles

True or false?• Ofsted expect to see

certain types of teaching.• You will be graded as

outstanding, good or requires improvement if you are observed by an inspector.• Teaching by TeachFirst

participants will not contribute to the school’s inspection outcome.

What do Ofsted say about Early Years Teaching?• Teaching should not be

taken to imply a ‘top down’ or formal way of working. It is a broad term that covers the many different ways in which adults help young children learn. • Ofsted, 2015

• It includes their interactions with children during planned and child-initiated play and activities: communicating and modelling language, showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring ideas, encouraging, questioning, recalling, providing a narrative for what they are doing, facilitating and setting challenges. • It takes account of the equipment

adults provide and the attention given to the physical environment, as well as the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations.

• Integral to teaching is how practitioners assess what children know, understand and can do, as well as taking account of their interests and dispositions to learn (characteristics of effective learning), and how practitioners use this information to plan children’s next steps in learning and monitor their progress.

What would you say about this teaching? A trap for baddies

Assessment – chore or celebration?

• There are still poor examples of early years classes collecting multiple and mundane observations about children. • Poor assessments often

repeat the wording of EYFS Development Matters/Early Years Outcomes e.g. “Fatima shows interest in shapes in the environment”

• Some ICT-based systems generate vast amounts of data and claim that they can do the teacher’s job.

• And some teachers collate and stick down too many pictures and too much information about children.• It’s more like a

biography than a working document for a teacher

What Ofsted are checking

The Characteristics of Effective Learning • These come first in Development Matters for a reason• Research suggests that how children develop their

curiosity, disposition to learn, and capacity to persevere with difficulty is critically important and can have a life-long, positive impact• Remember that Ofsted’s description of what they are

looking for includes “children’s participation, willingness to make choices and decisions, active and inquisitive learners who are creative and think critically”.

Outcomes, equality and the gap

Sir Michael Wilshaw: “In 2007, the government devised a simple benchmark for five-year-olds. By age five, children should show a ‘good level of development’ and be ready for formal schooling.

“It found that the gap between the poorest children and those from more advantaged backgrounds was around 20 percentage points. Six years later in 2013, the gap had not closed: it was still around 20 percentage points.”

Reference: Annual early years lecture: An unsure start, April 2014

Outcomes, equality and the gapSo it is essential to:

• Track outcomes for different groups of children• Identify children at risk of making more progress• Take steps to ensure to accelerate the progress the

most disadvantaged children • Remember that the single aspect which makes the most

difference is the child’s Home Learning Environment. Partnership with parents, built on respect, is essential if we are to tackle inequality.

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC)On my blog I show how you can link between the EYFS and what Ofsted are looking for

Paige gets creative

Final thoughts• Will you approach Ofsted as a leader, and a future

leader?• Leading yourself• Confidently articulating your pedagogy• Engaging in dialogue with your inspector and seeing the

inspection as an opportunity to learn• Seeing Ofsted as a route for validation, and critical challenge,

of your practice?

Don’t let the tail wag the dog!

Los Angeles | London | New Delhi | Singapore | Washington DC

Successful Early Years Ofsted InspectionsThriving Children, Confident Staff

Julian Grenier• November 2016• £22.99• ISBN: 9781473938410• More details online

This book provides navigational tools which help leaders and managers of early childhood practice, working in a range of settings , to find their way through the complexities of the work they do, and to deepen their sense of fulfilment in working with the children, families and staff as well as the challenges they deal with daily. - Tina Bruce, CBE