The team will plan the inspection so that they can cover the reporting requirements within the five inspection areas. They will ensure that they have enough time to review the key evidence they need to make their judgements. Inspectors will undertake a range of activities to gather evidence for their evaluation of pupils’ progress and the quality of the school’s provision. This may include:
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samples of pupils’ work
The team will use direct observation of pupils’ work wherever possible to gather evidence to support their judgements. Inspectors may select an additional sample of pupils’ work, if required, to further their investigation in a specific aspect.
Points to consider:- Do pupils use a range of appropriate number and measuring skills?
- Do pupils use an appropriate range of data handling skills (for example gather information in a variety of ways, record, interpret and present it in charts or diagrams, identify patterns in data and convey appropriate conclusions, select an appropriate graph to display the data, using an appropriate and accurate scale on each axis, and tell the ‘story of a graph’)?
- Do pupils apply these skills in different contexts effectively to solve real-life problem (points to consider are relevance, challenge, planning, processing and reasoning)?
- Are learning activities purposeful and do they build successfully on what pupils know?
- Is there clear evidence of appropriate differentiation?
- Does feedback help pupils to improve their work
- observation of teaching and other activities, including evidence gathered through learning walks
- discussions with stakeholders
- discussions with pupils about their work.
This is a key source of evidence for inspectors. Discussions with pupils both in the classroom and in focus groups, will provide an opportunity to explore pupils’ knowledge and understanding of their work. It will also help inspectors to gauge how well the school supports pupils and contributes to their progress and wellbeing. The questions in Document A could be used as a prompt when discussing numeracy with pupils.
- discussions with individual teachers about pupils’ learning in their classes and how they plan work to meet their needs,
- discussions with leaders, managers, governors, parents and others
The team will need to consider stakeholders’ views on the school and test out the validity of those views during the inspection. These will include survey responses from pupils, parents/carers, governors, teaching and support staff and information from the local authority/regional consortium
- documentary evidence, including information on pupils’ performance and progress
Schools should make information available to the inspection team about the standards achieved by pupils, particularly the results of any initial screening tests and other assessments. This will help inspectors to judge pupils’ progress, to come to a view about the standards pupils achieve compared to their starting-points and the way teachers use the information from assessment to influence their planning and their lessons