CPD taster - Meeting the Ofsted framework in secondary science

This is a CPD taster created to give teachers a better understanding of what to expect when joining one of our secondary science leadership courses. Below you will find a video and a task for you to do in your own time. Once you have done the activity, book on to Meeting the Ofsted framework in secondary science (RP352).

The Education Inspection Framework sets out the principles that apply to Ofsted’s school inspections and the judgements that inspectors make. The inspection process provides assurance to the public and government that minimum standards of education, skills and childcare are being met. Ofsted exists to be a force for improvement in education provision and specifically makes four graded judgements using a four point scale on:

• The quality of education
• Behaviour and attitudes
• Personal development
• Leadership and management

Our Meeting the new Ofsted framework in secondary science course looks at one strand of the inspection, the quality of education, using the 3 'I's: intent, implementation, and impact. In this video, Wayne Jarvis, Senior Network Educational Lead, explains more and provides some context for the Education Inspection Framework.

Task: Exploring curriculum intent

The purpose of this task is to give you some familiarity with the Ofsted inspection framework and to think about your curriculum intent - the extent to which your school and your science department sets out the knowledge and skills that pupils will gain.

Ofsted will look at the curriculum intent to ensure that the curriculum is:

• Ambitious and provides opportunities for all learners, especially the most disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and / or disability.
• Coherently planned and sequenced to provide the knowledge and skills required for future learning and / or employment.
• Equally ambitious for all learners whether they are studying via an academic, vocational or technical route unless there is good reason, for example a student that has a high level of SEND when the curriculum needs to be designed to be ambitious to meet their needs.
• Not narrowed for specific groups of students, unless there is a necessity to do so.

It is important to note that Ofsted have no hidden agenda when it comes to inspection. Inspectors use two openly public documents (the education inspection framework and the school inspection handbook) as the basis of their inspection.

Read

First we’d like you to familiarize yourself with the education inspection framework.

1. ​Download the education inspection framework.
2. Read page 9, which refers to the intent of the curriculum at a framework level.
3. Download the school inspection handbook.
4. Read pages 41-44, which refer to the intent of the curriculum at an inspection level. 

Create

This short task helps you think about how the intent of your curriculum is represented through the attributes of your learners.

1. Download the outline of a learner template.
2. Imagine that this learner is a year 11 student who has just taken GCSE Science. Think about what skills, knowledge and attributes you would want them to have as a result of following your science curriculum.
3. Annotate your diagram using text boxes with the skills, knowledge and aspirations that would reflect your "ideal learner".
4. Upload a PDF of your annotated learner diagram to the Padlet for this task.

Padlet is a virtual pin-board and allows you to share text, images and other files. Padlet is a third-party website we are using for this activity. See Padlet Terms of Use and Content Policy. You do not need to register an account to post to Padlet. Please remember not to share personal data or confidential information on Padlet.

Next steps

In this video, Wayne explains what else you can expect from attending the course.

Book your place on Meeting the Ofsted framework in secondary science (RP352).