Parents: 7.45 a.m. So, the Age 5 trousers look a little short but the Age 6 trousers are dragging on the ground – which looks least stupid?

8.15 a.m. Before the summer I had 14 water bottles, now I only have 1… which kid do I like most?

8.30 a.m. Can’t believe we’re going to be late on the very first day. If I was a pair of black school shoes where would I have put myself for six weeks?

8.45 a.m. Can’t wait to see my mummy friends again… Ooh, and yes of course, hope you have a lovely first day back, darling!  

Kids:

6.00 a.m. Yep, I’m awake. I think I’ll go and jump on mummy.

7.45 a.m. I want a chocolate biscuit for breakfast. No, not cereals. No, not toast. No, not even Pain au chocolat. I want a Wagonwheeeeeeeeellll!

8.30 a.m. Why is mummy in such a flap about this? I wish she’d stop asking where I put my shoes – that was like YEARS ago.

8.45 a.m. Yay! It’s like a giant reunion party.

9.30 a.m. I miss my old teacher

3.15 p.m. I LOVE my new teacher!  

Teachers:

8.30 a.m. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

8.45 a.m. Are you going to be a problem, Mrs Parent?

8.50 a.m. Name labels. Need name labels!

10.00 a.m. Blur

11.00 a.m. Blur

12.00 p.m. Blur

1.00 p.m. Blur

2.00 p.m. Blur

3.15 p.m. Must match children to correct parent. Aaaarggh, escapee. Back ‘ere, Jones!

3.30 p.m. Only six more parents in the line to see me.

3.45 p.m. Shattered!

The updated Ofsted Common Inspection Framework (CIF) was launched on 11 June for inspections from September 2015. Until the end of the current term schools will be inspected under the 2012 framework (last updated in January 2015).

The new CIF is designed to pull together the inspection of the different education settings (early years setting, maintained schools and academies, non-association independent schools and further education and skills providers) ‘to provide greater coherence across different providers that cater for similar age ranges’.

Between the framework, the Inspectors' handbook, and a plethora of supporting material to assist schools with its roll-out and assimilation, there is quite a lot to wade through, so here is a quick summary of the most important points:

Slight shift in judgement areas

• Ofsted will now make graded judgements in the following areas (2012 judgement areas in brackets). The same judgement areas will be used in all education settings.
• Overall effectiveness (Overall effectiveness)
• Effectiveness of leadership and management (Leadership and management)
• Personal development, behaviour and welfare (Behaviour and safety of pupils)
• Quality of teaching, learning and assessment (Quality of teaching)
• Outcomes for pupils (Achievement of pupils)

Increased emphasis on safeguarding

Safeguarding is now reported under Leadership and Management. There will also be a greater emphasis on the notion of ‘British values’ (already included in the January edition) which include ‘tolerance’ and ‘respect’.

The personal development section also includes a reference to extremism – ‘understand how to keep themselves safe from relevant risks such as exploitation or extremism, including when using the internet’.

Shorter inspections for good schools

Short inspections for schools judged as being ‘good’ in their last inspection are being introduced. These new shorter inspections will start from the assumption that the school is still good, with an emphasis on leadership.

The onus is therefore on the leaders to provide sufficient evidence to HMI that this is the case, with a full inspection to follow only if HMI do not see enough during the short visit to be convinced.

Focus areas

The launch of the new CIF was heralded by a speech delivered by Sir Michael Wilshaw to Westminister outlining the principles of the document and talking about the future of education inspection.

In it, he outlined a number of key focus areas that inspectors would be looking at. In his own words, these are:

• Have the leaders got a grip on the institution? Do they fully understand its strengths and weaknesses?
• Have they communicated their strategy for raising standards to the key stakeholders?
• Are they focussed on what really benefits children and young people, rather than wasting their time endlessly preparing for an Ofsted inspection which could be years away?
• Do they refuse to accept excuses for underachievement and are they prepared to go the extra mile to compensate for family background?
• Are they simply presiders over the status quo, content to take the path of least resistance or are they prepared to challenge staff and students to do better?
• Have they built, or are they developing, a culture that is calm, orderly and aspirational?
• Are they, for example, people who tolerate scrappy worksheets? Or are they people who insist that children should have good materials to work with, including textbooks, readers and library books which they can use for classwork and homework?

Dispelling the myths

Alongside the inspection handbook/document is an additional paper clarifying the facts about Ofsted inspections and attempting to dispel the ‘myths’ surrounding inspection preparation, a key source of stress for teachers and school leaders. Ofsted does not:

• Require schools to show individual or previous lesson plans
• Require details of the pay grade of individual teachers
• Require evidence for inspection beyond what is set out in the inspection handbook
• Expect to see a particular frequency or quantity of work in pupils’ books or folders
• Require the performance and pupil-tracking data and school or college self-evaluations to be presented in a specific format
• Grade individual lessons

This guidance has been well received by teachers and teaching unions. as evidence that Ofsted is recognising - and seeking to address - both the mental toll and the considerable demands on teachers' time that inspection has been taking in recent years.

What about assessment?

From September 2015 schools are required to show how they are managing and measuring attainment and progress now that they are no longer using levels to measure attainment.

Inspectors will consider how well teachers use any assessment for establishing pupils’ starting points, teacher assessment and testing to modify teaching so that pupils achieve their potential by the end of a year or key stage. However, Ofsted does not expect to see any particular system of assessment in place.

Evidence of in-year progress and attainment information should be provided to inspectors in the format that the school would ordinarily use to track and monitor the progress of pupils in the school.

Reference is made many times in the document to 'Schools' own Assessment Policies'. As part of the good practice in school policy update and review, schools are well-advised to have their assessment, marking and feedback policies updated and in place by the start of the Autumn term.

Find out more how Pearson can support you with assessment with our new service Progress & Assess.

Image credit: Robert Kneschke. Shutterstock

1. In a triumph of hope over experience you will be imagining six weeks of glorious sunshine and brilliant blue skies, and will spend most of the break waiting expectantly for summer to actually arrive, before finally admitting defeat on 26 August.

2. In the first week of the holidays you will get a cold as you finally allow yourself to relax.

3. Luckily, you’ve got a mountain of chocolate from your pupils to keep your spirits high for at least a couple of weeks. (Oh OK, two nights with the latest box-set on the telly).

4. The two days where the sun really does put in an appearance you’ll be so unused to it you’ll forget your sun-cream and end up just a tiny bit crisped (in spite of all your warnings to your pupils over the last term!).

5. If travelling anywhere by ferry you are bound to bump into one of your pupils past or present (and their parents…), especially if it’s a long crossing. Get a cabin!

6. You will lose track of the number of people who tell you how lucky you are to have such a long holiday, but lose the will after the first one to explain how many extra hours you put in the rest of the year.

7. No matter how good your holiday was, that first night back in your home and your own bed is as comforting as hot chocolate and marshmallows.

8. That Sunday evening feeling will probably start somewhere around the time you finally realise that summer’s not going to show. Although if you have children of your own, you may actually be looking forward to going back to work…

9. You secretly love it when the shops fill up with stationery. Ooh, all those different coloured gel pens, geometry sets and pristine pads of paper... it’s like Christmas, but better.

10. You’re feeling a little bit sad about the children you’ve just got to know over the past year moving on, but also excited about getting to know your new bunch. They’re the reason you do it, after all.

Here’s what we had to say after Michael Gove wrote to Ofqual about future changes to A Levels, including the development of new standalone AS levels.

A Pearson spokesperson said:

“Pearson is pleased that students will retain the opportunity to study a greater breadth of subjects past age 16 with the retention of an AS qualification.

“We support greater involvement of Higher Education institutions in the new qualifications, and this will be particularly important to build recognition of a new AS as well as to ensure that A level continues to be held in high regard. Pearson is already working with a range of stakeholders from higher education and industry on our A level development, to ensure they prepare young people for further study at university, vocational courses and employment.

“We will now work with the regulator to fully understand the implications of the changes and we welcome the sensible delay to the start date to 2015 to enable a smooth transition.”

In September 2012, the Department for Education launched a consultation on plans to develop new qualifications for Key Stage 4. Here’s our response.

Pearson UK president Rod Bristow said:

“Pearson has argued that action is required to secure the public confidence in the strength and purpose of our education system, and ensure that we are being as ambitious as possible for all young people. This was further reinforced by our extensive consultation with teachers, students, parents and policy makers ‘Leading on Standards’.

“British schoolchildren must be confident that the qualifications they work so hard to achieve will enable them to go on and succeed in their lives. This requires a global perspective, a focus on the future and wide consultation to develop an exam system which is rigorous, inclusive and equips children with the kind of skills and aptitudes they will need in the modern world.

“Pearson are already working with an international panel of assessment experts, the teaching profession, employers and learners to develop English, Maths and Science qualifications which will motivate young people, adapt best practice from around the world, and help all young people to develop the knowledge and skills they need to compete with their peers globally.

“After a period of significant uncertainty, we welcome the clarity the Government has now given as to their intended approach to reform. It is vital that we now have an open and consultative process which helps formulate a clear plan for ensuring continuing improvement and investment in examinations over time.

“Over half a million pupils take core GCSE exams every year, and the process of replacing it needs to be carefully managed. Pearson are committed to being a partner in supporting schools and learners through any period of transition, and we are pleased to see that the timetable outlined reflects the need for an adequate period to prepare teachers and learners for any change.”

Here’s our statement in response to September 2012 press reports on the subject of GCSE English grade boundaries.

A spokesperson for Pearson said:

“The letters which have been leaked to the press today reflect a moment in time during extensive discussions with the regulator this summer. Following these we went on to make a decision on grade boundaries for English GCSE, which we consider fair to learners and which we stand by as right.

“We understand that the ongoing debate is unsettling to students and we want to give reassurance that we have done everything in our power to represent their interests.

“In setting grade boundaries, our responsibilities are two-fold. First, to maintain standards year-on-year for our qualifications, so that similar candidate performance is rewarded comparably over time. Second, to work with Ofqual and other awarding organisations to ensure a nationally-maintained standard, so that students of different cohorts and different awarding organisations are treated comparably.

“We have been consistent in stating that grade boundaries for Edexcel GCSE English this year were the subject of lengthy discussion both with Ofqual and the other awarding organisations. With the introduction of new specifications, all awarding organisations needed to make changes to their January boundaries for June to ensure standards were maintained year on year. We also considered reissuing grades for students who took units in January.

“The letters which have emerged in the press and have been discussed in select committee today are part of that discussion.

“At the time these letters were issued, other awarding organisations had already taken decisions on changes to their grade boundaries and had those decisions accepted by Ofqual. Given the relatively small number of students who take English with Edexcel, the grade boundary decisions of other awarding organisations have a larger impact on national results than our own.

“We felt that the original grade boundary changes suggested by Ofqual, based on prediction data and the decisions of other awarding organisations, would not enable us to adequately reflect student work in their grades. After extensive discussion with Ofqual we agreed a June grade boundary which took account of our concerns to recognise the candidate performance our examiners observed. This reported results slightly above original Ofqual predictions.

“We are therefore satisfied that the final grade boundary we set for June enabled us to fairly reward learners as well as uphold the standard of the GCSE.

“The letters which have emerged in the press give a partial picture of the discussions between Edexcel and Ofqual. We therefore feel it is important to publish the full set of letters in order to give a full picture of what was agreed.”