Ofsted has been told it may need separate toolkits for special schools amid concern that its inspection plans will not work outside of mainstream.
There are also concerns that the way the watchdog has written its toolkits for how it plans to grade schools could lead to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) becoming a “low-risk” area to fail in.
The inspectorate has produced a set of toolkits setting out how inspectors will grade schools under its plans for report cards later this year.
Its updated Big Listen Action Monitoring report said it is taking views on whether a dedicated toolkit for specialist provision will be required to strengthen inspections of special schools and alternative provision.
This is in response to a question in its ongoing consultation about how suitable the toolkit is for special schools and alternative providers.
Simon Knight, co-headteacher of Frank Wise special school in Oxfordshire, highlighted a number of areas in which he thinks the proposed toolkits will be problematic for special schools.
Focus on age and phase is ‘misaligned’
He pointed to a part of the toolkits document that sets out the need for “a nuanced understanding” of teaching “across subjects, phases and year groups”.
In some special schools, he said, “this is less significant than having a deep understanding in relation to particular groups of pupils - for example, those with profound and multiple learning disabilities”.
He added: “We need to make sure that language does not prevent the consistent application of the toolkit across phases or sectors.”
Another example he highlights is in the description of how judgements will be made about achievement across the curriculum.
The toolkit states that pupils will have “age- and phase-appropriate knowledge and skills”.
But he warned this creates a “risk of misalignment” with special schools where achievement is developmentally determined rather than chronologically.
While the toolkit shows “a clear ambition to better address the nuances of educating children with SEND”, it “lacks coherence in content”, he said.
The document contains areas “that would be difficult to evidence effectively within special schools” and that “act in tension with one another”, he added.
Risk that SEND becomes ‘low-risk failure’
If guidance for the application of the toolkit in special schools is felt to be needed and requires a significant deviation from how it would be applied in mainstream settings, it may be better to create a “special school-specific” toolkit, he said.
Ofsted’s new report card inspections are set to assess schools across up to 11 areas, with a new five-point grading scale ranging from “causing concern” to “exemplary”.
Mr Knight voiced concern that “leadership and governance” and “developing teaching” features SEND as a descriptor for codifying success, but not for underperformance.
“We need to consider carefully how we, as a system, protect against SEND being seen as a low-risk failure at an organisational level”.
Tes has revealed previously that Ofsted said it was working to ensure that its toolkits were applicable to special schools and alternative provision and that it was planning to inspect schools on inclusion.
No focus on whether SEND intake is representative
Inclusion is one of the evaluation areas in the proposed new report card but there are concerns about how Ofsted is looking to assess this.
This was welcomed by Seamus Murphy, chief executive of Turner Schools, which runs eight schools in Kent. But he was also concerned that the toolkit “only seems to be looking at how inclusive the school is for the pupils inside the school”.
He said: “There is nothing that attempts to look at how well the school serves its local community or how representative its intake is in terms of the number of pupils with SEND.
“If Ofsted were to look at this data it would show where - whether by fair means or foul - schools were ensuring their intake meets a certain profile”.
A similar concern was raised by Margaret Mulholland, the SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, when she gave evidence to the Commons Education Committee last week.
She said: “The way that Ofsted’s proposals have been framed looks as though we will be only able to judge inclusion within the school and not make judgements around the representation of the SEND needs in the local area, because Ofsted doesn’t look at admissions.
“We would like to think about the ways that we might ensure that schools reflect the needs of their local area - the SEND needs, the inclusive needs.”
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We want our inspections to raise standards of education for all children, especially those who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs and /or disabilities (SEND).
“We would encourage everyone to respond to the consultation and give us their views. Feedback will be used to improve our toolkits and wider changes to inspection - including where they relate to special schools and alternative provision.”
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