Just when I thought it was safe to begin enjoying myself, Ofsted* has returned to blight my life, if only indirectly.
Whilst I have been away at COW2011, my wife got the news that one of the schools where she works as a Special Educational Needs consultant will be inspected on Tuesday and Wednesday this week by a team of inspectors from Ofsted.
Now for those of you who don't know, Ofsted inspections can be (No, are!) very stressful. A school has some idea what evidence they will be asked provide to the Ofsted team ... but in theory the team can ask for almost anything and expect that it will be available for their perusal within a relatively short period of time. Getting all the data together that they might need to see is a massive task ... and this is in addition to expecting the teaching staff prepare top quality lessons that can be observed.
You can imagine, therefore, that my wife has a lot of work to do ... and not a lot of time to do it in. I am going to do as much as I can to help her, and so I can expect that the first few days of my 'retirement' will be devoted to assisting her in whatever ways I can to meet the extra demands that the inspection will place on her.
And I thought that once I was retired I would never have to worry about Ofsted again ... how wrong I was!
*Ofsted is the acronym for the Office of Standards in Education. They are the body that undertakes inspections of schools on behalf of the Government.
Whilst I have been away at COW2011, my wife got the news that one of the schools where she works as a Special Educational Needs consultant will be inspected on Tuesday and Wednesday this week by a team of inspectors from Ofsted.
Now for those of you who don't know, Ofsted inspections can be (No, are!) very stressful. A school has some idea what evidence they will be asked provide to the Ofsted team ... but in theory the team can ask for almost anything and expect that it will be available for their perusal within a relatively short period of time. Getting all the data together that they might need to see is a massive task ... and this is in addition to expecting the teaching staff prepare top quality lessons that can be observed.
You can imagine, therefore, that my wife has a lot of work to do ... and not a lot of time to do it in. I am going to do as much as I can to help her, and so I can expect that the first few days of my 'retirement' will be devoted to assisting her in whatever ways I can to meet the extra demands that the inspection will place on her.
And I thought that once I was retired I would never have to worry about Ofsted again ... how wrong I was!
*Ofsted is the acronym for the Office of Standards in Education. They are the body that undertakes inspections of schools on behalf of the Government.
Oh no Bob - it must be serious to persuade to rank an Ofsted post ahead of a COW report!! As a non=attendee but someone who is considering exploring WD/COW further I do hope all went well - I have read "Trebians" two excellent updates and photos and I'm fascinated to discover hopw the Funny Little wars fared. kind regards Ken.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
ReplyDeleteWow! Just when you thought you were out they pull you back in. I can see it now as a movie title: Revenge Of The Woodheads.
Good luck with them,
Martin
It has been said that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
ReplyDeleteWorry not, sir. This too shall pass.
And please don't forget to give us a COW report at some point.
-- Jeff
Ken H,
ReplyDeleteWhen you have lived with Ofsted hanging over your head for so long, it still has the power to absorb all one's attention when it intrudes into one's life yet again.
COW went extremely well, and I hope that my report will expand upon what Trebian has written on his blog. As to the FUNNY LITTLE WARS session ... well we have yet another recruit to the fold - Jim Wallman - and we have acquired some very powerful new cannon from Argentina.
All the best,
Bob
Martin,
ReplyDeleteI like the movie title!
With Ofsted, there is very little luck involved ... they do what they have to do in the way that they want to do it.
All the best,
Bob
Bluebear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteWith luck, this will be the last time either my wife or I will have to deal with Ofsted. The whole thing should be over by Wednesday evening; after that we can get on with our lives.
As to my COW report ... well I posted it less than thirty minutes ago, and with any luck you will have enjoyed reading it by now.
All the best,
Bob
Best of luck to Mrs C, Bob.
ReplyDeleteIf it is any comfort to you we all have something like this to blight our lives. The FSA are always good for a giggle (NOT!!!) as are Sarbanes Oxley auditors (so I'm told). All of them can apparently ruin your life with no comeback on themselves. Prerogative of the Harlot, indeed.
Trebian,
ReplyDeleteI will pass on your good wishes to my wife. She has spent this evening preparing for tomorrow’s inspection ... with a bit of help from me.
It is interesting that so many of these oversight organisations seem to have so much power, which they exercise apparently without any responsibility, and there is then little or no opportunity for any recourse when they make mistakes.
All the best,
Bob