OFSTED is coming! We have already had our preliminary visit from Reggie and he couldn’t have been more approachable and friendly. Rather disconcerting really, rather like being licked enthusiastically by a Rottweiller.
As chair of governors I was invited to his initial meeting with the headteacher, and other governors were included in the meeting with staff.
New improved OFSTED, we were assured, is much more user friendly than in the bad old days. It is a collaborative process between the inspectors and the school and they want to listen to us. “We are all human,” Reggie assured us. There has obviously been a change in recruitment policy since the Woodhead era.
So I wonder why we are all still terrified? Our staff are wonderful and we get extra Brownie points for being a self-evaluating school. Which reminds me - I must go and open up for the Rainbows. The entire school, including the caretaker, has gone to see Peter Pan at Nottingham and I am the only person left in the village with a set of keys. If only I can remember the code for the burglar alarm.... That’s what I like about being a governor - never a dull moment.
