Ofsted publishes first Big Listen monitoring report

Ofsted has published its first monitoring report on the 132 commitments made in the Big Listen, as well as the response to Dame Christine Gilbert’s independent learning review.

Following the changes Ofsted pledged to make after the Big Listen consultation, this morning report is the first to detail the action Ofsted has taken so far, as well as an update on improvement actions not yet completed. The report shows that 42 (just under a third) of actions have been carried out, with work to deliver the others progressing as planned.

Additionally, Ofsted has announced that it will use a small number of volunteer schools to trial a new approach to education inspection, which Ofsted will publish for consultation later in January.

Later in the term and alongside the consultation, Ofsted will formally launch the new approach in schools as well as in other educational settings, including early yers providers, non-associated independent schools, further education and skills providers, and initial education providers. These pilots will help to refine and increase the effectiveness of Ofsted’s proposals.

After the consultation and any necessary changes to the proposed approach, Ofsted will run further pilot inspections on a range of volunteer providers to test the final model. Simultaneously, educational professionals will be informed of the finalised model through a series of events.

Chief Ofsted inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said: “Our response to the Big Listen set out our determination to retain the confidence of children, their parents and carers, and to earn back the trust of the dedicated professionals, working hard to improve children’s life chances.

“I’m pleased to now be publishing this first monitoring report, which describes all the work we are doing to improve our culture and practices. I hope that it shows that we are willing to listen, accept challenge, and take action where it’s needed.

“I am also delighted that the work to trial our new inspection approach begins in early January. Feedback from these trials and from our soon-to-be-launched consultation, will shape and improve our proposals.”

Dame Christine Gilbert, in her independent learning review published in September, recommended that Ofsted produce a “single, overarching improvement and development plan”, which detailed all activity Ofsted said they would and have completed. Ofsted accepted this recommendation and the response to the Big Listen provided that top-level plan, setting out a total of 132 actions that aimed to improve relations between Ofsted and the sites it inspects, to foster a culture of integrity and treat people with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect, and to be a learning organisation that operates transparently.

Ofsted’s taking on board of Dame Christine’s Review is a decision of transparency about the process made towards achieving this objectives. Today’s report is the first in a series that will continue until all the actions have been completed.