In the closing weeks of the 2023 winter term, my school received the news that we had half-dreaded for years. We were going to be visited by inspectors from Education Scotland.
Personally, it would be my first experience of an inspection in 10 years - and my first while in a promoted post. My only previous dalliance with this process was during my probation year around a decade ago - professionally speaking, a different lifetime, given the changes in technology, educational infrastructure and my own career path.
My colleagues and I would come under more scrutiny than most of us had ever known. Here, then, is advice I would offer to others preparing for a similar ordeal.
Preparing for a school inspection
Paperwork and documentation
Inspectors give schools a couple of weeks’ notice, and I would recommend using this time to ensure that your departmental paperwork is up to date. Inspectors are not going to examine everything, but a sample of your admin is likely to be evaluated.
That means having up-to-date course plans, tracking and monitoring data, evidence of self-evaluations and pupil evaluations, minutes of meetings and details of improvement priorities. I’d imagine that most department heads will have all of these things already - it’s just a case of tidying them up and making sure they’re organised.
Nevertheless, this is a time-consuming task that will take up the bulk of the weeks before the inspection.
Don’t say you do something if you don’t
The inspectors will “triangulate” everything they see, measuring the validity and, most importantly, the impact of school initiatives by looking at paperwork and talking to pupils, parents and partners.
While it might be tempting to use this opportunity to “oversell” an initiative and its benefits, I would urge against this. Don’t tell the inspectors that something happens in your department if it doesn’t. Triangulation of evidence will soon highlight this.
Having the confidence to identify areas for improvement is viewed as a strength for middle leaders. This shows good self-evaluation and reflection, ultimately leading to improvement, which is what they will want to see.
‘Let me get back to you on that’
My headteacher pressed this point quite prominently in the lead-up to our inspection, and it was a comfort to myself and colleagues. The inspectors will be in school for most of a week. If they ask a question you can’t answer, or want evidence of something that you can’t put your hands on, it’s OK to acknowledge this.
You can tell them: “I don’t have an answer for that right now, but let me get back to you tomorrow.” Or: “I don’t have that information handy at present, can I send it over in the morning?”
This is not a job-interview situation, where you have a solitary opportunity to make your impression. Talk to your colleagues so that you can go back the next day ready to give them what they want.
Lesson planning
For most staff, lesson observations are the part of a school inspection during which they’ll feel most vulnerable and anxious. You are transported back to your student days, when a university lecturer would come in to “crit” one of your lessons.
Of course, the reality here is much different. Unless you are brand new to the school, these are students you will know well, who have been following your curricular pathway, who trust you. Inspectors are simply looking for good teaching and learning, with the emphasis on learning.
They will ask pupils to discuss their learning, their next steps and any strategies in place to support them. I understand that inspectors aim to observe around 20 minutes of a lesson, so you need to be prepared - they can drop by at any time. Although they will sometimes let you know in advance if they plan on visiting your classroom.
I would advise welcoming them, recommending somewhere for them to sit and not to worrying too much about anything going off-piste. The overall standard of the school’s inspection report is not going to live or die on one brief classroom visit.
‘Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it’
Lady Macbeth’s words of advice to her husband capture my initial suspicions of the school inspectors. They will insist that they are there to find out the school’s story, to learn about how achievements are celebrated and to supportively articulate next steps. Despite my initial scepticism about this stance, I found them to be true to their word.
In meetings with myself, colleagues, pupils and parents, the inspectors were understanding, good people. Yes, they had high expectations in terms of seeking evidence and data. However, I did not get the impression that they were trying to trip anyone up or finagle their way into exposing flaws.
Alan Gillespie is principal teacher of English at Fernhill School, an independent school near Glasgow. He tweets @afjgillespie
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