Within that statement, there was a focus on safeguarding and an acknowledgement that in this critical area, in Ofsted's view, schools sometimes regard this as a paperwork exercise. Readers will know that where safeguarding is 'ineffective' it limits the overall Ofsted judgement to 'Inadequate'. In response to this, there is a suggestion that Ofsted may change its procedure so that it can return to re-inspect schools more quickly where the failings are limited to safeguarding but the school is otherwise performing well.
The implications from this appear to be that section 8 ungraded visits are brought forward. Therefore, it would be in the school's best interest to work through the failings that have been identified as soon as possible. The new timetable isn’t entirely clear but the suggestion is a successful return visit would avoid the school or academy being judged as 'Inadequate' based solely on safeguarding failures.
Schools will be encouraged by this approach as it will feel less draconian where remedial action can be implemented swiftly and sustainably. There is however, a lack of detail as to how this proposed approach will join up with the following:
The statement lacks detail on how the proposed changes would interact with Ofsted's current complaints procedure. There is reference to the complaints process being under review. Currently, there is a three step complaints process with the final report being published shortly after the conclusion of step 2. What remains to be seen is what would happen to the process in the event of a 'safeguarding only' failure.
At present, the Guidance stipulates that where an 'Inadequate' judgement is awarded by Ofsted, the Secretary of State has a duty to issue an academy order. The process for maintained schools judged 'Inadequate' by Ofsted is set out in Chapter 2 of the Guidance.
When an academy is judged inadequate by Ofsted, the Regional Director (on behalf of the Secretary of State) ('RD') has the power to terminate the academy's funding agreement and move the academy to a new academy trust.
This is a power rather than a duty, meaning the RD may decide, where appropriate, to implement other measures to improve the academy, rather than terminate its funding agreement to bring about a change of academy trust.
Given the above, it is not clear if or when a RD would get involved in the event that an otherwise 'Good' maintained school or academy's safeguarding is ineffective and swiftly addressed thereby avoiding the grading of 'Inadequate'.
Over the coming weeks our lawyers will be tracking all developments to see how this might all fit together so that there is greater clarity for the sector, which we will share in further articles and training webinars.
Should you require any advice in relation to complaints against Ofsted, safeguarding or intervention by the DfE, please do not hesitate to contact one of our education lawyers.