The perils of inspection
It has been another busy and rewarding week at school, with Sport benefiting enormously from the lovely weather. I was delighted when Mr McCann told me that more than 200 pupils had attended at least one co-curricular sports club in our first week of term – a wonderful level of participation. I was equally pleased by our boys’ first team cricket victory over Oakham in the National Cup.
Of course, it is not all about sport. The Rotary concert last Friday was absolutely top notch, followed this week by a much smaller, but equally enjoyable, singers’ concert on Wednesday. I enjoyed both immensely.
Alongside the excitement and busy activity of school life, we have also spent time this week preparing for our next inspection, which is due at some point next term.
There has been a great deal in the media about school inspections in recent years, with much criticism directed at Ofsted, the government department responsible for inspecting maintained schools in England and Wales. As an Independent School, however, we are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). In broad terms the process is similar, and similarly scary! As Headmaster, I receive a call at about 9am on a Monday morning, the inspection team arrives by 11am the following day, and by 5pm on Thursday, they have made their judgement. This allows us just two and a half days to demonstrate what a great school we are, and to prove that we meet the hundreds of requirements of the Independent School Standards and Regulations.
There are, however, some important differences in the ISI process. A significant advantage is that all inspectors are current Headteachers or Deputy Heads in independent schools. This means that while they are carefully trained in inspection protocols, they are also realists. They understand the demands of working in a busy school, and the inevitable unpredictability of working with busy children!
I am an ISI inspector myself, and although it can be tempting to make a swift judgement when I see something I would do differently in another school, a moment of reflection (“could that happen at LGS?”) often brings a more measured and less judgemental response. This is not to suggest that the ISI process is in any way soft. Independent schools can, and do, fail their inspections, including large and prestigious schools on occasion. However, there is something reassuring about being assessed by professional peers rather than by those who may not have worked in schools for many years.
One additional benefit of inspection work is the opportunity to visit other schools and see how they operate. This is often reassuring and helps me to appreciate the many things we do well at LGS, whilst also allowing us to learn from effective practice elsewhere. There is also no doubt that our school has benefited from seeing the good
ideas that other schools have implemented. Unfortunately, I am limited to two inspections each year, and those are now complete for this academic cycle. I am already looking forward to my next inspection sometime after September - perhaps I will manage to squeeze in one more visit before that dreaded 9am phone call!
Have a great weekend,
Magnus Anderson
Headmaster