Challenge 2: What's Ofsted there for?
It’s been suggested that we should press for including use of the outdoors in Ofsted criteria, specifically: assessing schools’ commitment to health and wellbeing through access to the outdoors other than for physical education, how the outdoor environment is used to enhance levels of progress and how the pupil premium is used to fund activity out of doors.
Although learning about and in the natural environment has been shown to have a positive impact on educational and behavioural outcomes, people have said that we need to make the link between learning outdoors and good child health and wellbeing more strongly. Do you think Ofsted are going to be more or less receptive to this?
What do you think? Is there any evidence to support (or detract from) the motion?
Mary Jackson Tue 22 Apr 2014 12:34PM
One of the problems you find when talking with schools is the inconsistency of Ofsted. One school might be told one thing, another gets completely opposing information. This is not specifically about the outdoors but it does highlight an important issue.
Ofsted themselves have highlighted the value of LOtC - again not specifically teaching and learning outdoors - but how many Ofsted inspectors are aware of this? And does evaluating outdoor learning come into their training at all? With both Science (at primary) and Geography requiring wool outside surely it is something that inspectors need to know something about...
AFP Robinson Wed 23 Apr 2014 1:54PM
Perhaps another angle then is the child health/wellbeing issue and all the benefits that accrue from being outdoors...I shall try to ask my friendly local Ofsted inspector what she thinks and report back if she has any good ideas for us!
Juno Hollyhock Thu 8 May 2014 8:54AM
Interesting not from a conversation:
The Bright Blue idea of not letting Academies be ranked as outstanding by Ofsted unless they’re making a substantive improvement to other schools offers a real opportunity around school space & outdoor learning, I reckon. Loathe to load more hoops on to schools, but including in the ‘substantive improvement’ requirements something around improving school grounds or learning outside the classroom could make a real difference to willingness in this space. Given they’re one of the success stories of the past decade, I’m a bit worried that Academies could go the way of Free Schools re complete absence of adequate space guidelines
Juno Hollyhock Thu 8 May 2014 8:55AM
Interesting note from a conversation.......The Bright Blue idea of not letting Academies be ranked as outstanding by Ofsted unless they’re making a substantive improvement to other schools offers a real opportunity around school space & outdoor learning, I reckon. Loathe to load more hoops on to schools, but including in the ‘substantive improvement’ requirements something around improving school grounds or learning outside the classroom could make a real difference to willingness in this space. Given they’re one of the success stories of the past decade, I’m a bit worried that Academies could go the way of Free Schools re complete absence of adequate space guidelines
Juno Hollyhock · Thu 17 Apr 2014 9:28AM
comment from Tony Thomas from CLOtC:
is it possible to get a different take on Ofsted?
In various guises I have talked with/lobbied Ofsted over the last decade. We have now lost the only HMI who knows anything about LOtC - he now has the Music- brief. Many of the senior team at Ofsted are sympathetic/supportive of LOtC in its various forms but very reluctant to see anything more added to the inspection list.
They stress that if schools highlight learning outside the classroom in their report/action plan then Inspectors will be obliged to comment upon the work.
Bit chicken and egg!!
Trying to think of another approach to raise the profile.