In a message to inspectors from Sean Harford, HMI, the National Director, Education several advice points were made to inspectors, 2 of which are of particular interest to those supporting learning:
Marking
The update identified that ‘marking has proved to be one of the harder myths to bust. In part, this has been because we have continued to report on it extensively at some inspections, especially with reference to areas for improvement in previous inspection reports from some time ago’. It goes on to say that ‘inspectors must not give the impression that marking needs to be undertaken in any particular format and to any particular degree of sophistication or detail.’
The Workload Review group on marking (March 2016) and the Education Endowment Foundation (April 2016) reported that there is remarkably little high quality, relevant research evidence to suggest that detailed or extensive marking has any significant impact on pupils’ learning.
Inspectors are currently advised by Ofsted ‘that regardless of any area for improvement identified at the previous inspection, not to report on marking practice, or make judgements on it, other than whether it follows the school’s assessment policy. Also, not seek to attribute the degree of progress that pupils have made to marking that you consider to be either effective or ineffective. When reporting, please do not make recommendations for improvement that involve marking, other than when the school’s marking/assessment policy is not being followed by a substantial proportion of teachers; this will then be an issue for the leadership and management to resolve.’
Effective Deployment of TAs – question inspectors might want to consider
The update refers to the 2015 Education Endowment Foundation (EFF) guidance report for schools, Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants, summarising the latest research evidence on the effective deployment of teaching assistants (TAs) and more recent research. In light of this research and guidance, Ofsted have detailed questions EEF suggest that inspectors might want to consider:
How do senior leaders ensure that TAs are deployed effectively in line with this evidence?
Are TAs supplementing the work of teachers or replacing them?
Is there a well-planned programme of training and support for TAs who deliver out-of-class interventions?
