Preparing for Inspection

The 2009 Framework for the inspection of maintained schools is available on the Ofsted website >>.

The Framework contains a greater focus on the following aspects of the education being provided:

• the steps the school is taking to improve;
• the views of parents and pupils;
• the achievement and wider well-being of pupils as a whole and of different groups of pupils; and
• the extent to which schools, in partnership with others, ensure that all pupils, including those most at risk, succeed.

In order to make their judgements inspectors will spend a greater proportion of time observing lessons in the classroom than under the previous inspection requirements.

All school inspections carried out by Ofsted continue to use the same grading scale:

• Grade 1: outstanding
• Grade 2: good
• Grade 3: satisfactory
• Grade 4: inadequate

RE leaders are expected to know how well pupils are doing in the subject. They should be able to evaluate the factors that support or obstruct pupils’ achievement and set up a programme of action for improvement based on that evaluation.

In addition, school governors have a legal responsibility, together with headteachers, to ensure that: 'the school provides teaching of religious education for all learners in accordance with the agreed syllabus (or otherwise, in accordance with relevant prescribed exceptions) and has told parents/carers of the right to withdraw their children.' (Section C of the new school SEF).

To help schools evaluate RE effectively, RE leaders are strongly advised to use the newly updated self-evaluation toolkit available here >>. Completing this new online evaluation tool will also vitally assist the LA in knowing how best to support RE in its schools.

In order to support your evidence base for the self-evaluation, subject leaders can use the mini-guide to preparing for inspection >>. The results can be shared with the headteacher and board of governors and can therefore feed into the whole-school self-evaluation development plan.