CAMSFC Ofsted Report 2014

[Dave]

Some good points from Simone.  Although as for Ofsted being 'part of the problem', personally I think it's a case of monkeys and organ grinders.   Ofsted are just the monkeys.  It's the politicians that call the tune.  As long as they continue to confuse exam passes with  'achievement', the UK education system will continue to lag behind that of other countries. 

Exams are not achievement, they are just a poor proxy for it.  We all know this because we come across people who have got GCSE English but can't write a clear, coherent letter of application.  People who have got GCSE Maths but can't work out whether they have got the right change when they go shopping.  People who have got GCSE French but can't speak a word of it.  And so on.  That's not a criticism of the exams - it's just a recognition that all exams are only a partial measure of ability and achievement. 

The effect of this, if you talk to people who work in education, is that they have to do their best to educate our children properly, whilst at the same time playing the games (targets, league tables etc) that are imposed on them by the politicians.  So well done to the people at the college who are managing valiantly to juggle these conflicting priorities! 

[simonesaffron]

It has always been a constant puzzle to me.

How a group of people (Politicians)  who are universally mistrusted are supported in their constant interference into the conduct of another group of people (Teachers) who on the whole and by comparison are universally trusted.

It seems to be a unique interference from government into education even to the extent that successive Ministers for Education (whatever their political hue) lecture Teachers at Teacher's conferences on how to Teach, yet they have never done it themselves

You would never hear the Minister for Health lecturing a group of dentists on how to extract teeth nor the Defence Minister lecturing the Generals on how to fight a war. Unless of course they were Dentists or Generals themselves. Have we ever had any Education Ministers that were Teachers? I don't know much about Michael Gove's background but surely he can't ever have been a Teacher.

I also recall reading recently about International Exam Result Tables. England was below Ireland and Poland and they don't have Ofsted there. Perhaps Ofsted are really part of the problem in Education and not part of the solution as they (well they would wouldn't they) would have us believe.   

[Bowden Guy]

But then, I guess, that would be Govt interference as well?

[Bowden Guy]

So, Dave, presumably you are totally behind Michael Gove's efforts to make GCSEs and A Levels harder to pass?

[Dave]

Now Dave, I think that's a touch cynical.

It is cynical, I admit, but sometimes cynicism can be justified.     

Take a look at the college's previous inspection report.  You can easily find it via the link on hollins' post at the top of this thread.  It's the one published on 16 Jan 2013.

The college is trashed in the very first sentence: 'Leadership is inadequate. The Principal and senior leaders have been unable to bring about rapid and sustained improvement to the quality of teaching and outcomes for students'.

But if you read on, you find sentences like this: 'The overall success rate has improved since the previous inspection and is now around the national average for sixth form colleges.'

So why would the inspectors contradict themselves by commending an improved exam pass rate, whilst condemning the college management as having been 'unable to bring it about'?  The only reason I can think of is the one I outline in my previous post. 

PS I completely and wholeheartedly agree with 'what's the point of an exam if 98% of people entering pass it?' but not sure if that's down to Ofsted. I'm happy to be enlightened though...

It's not ultimately down to Ofsted at all, they are just the agents of the government.  For the past thirty years successive governments have chosen to involve themselves directly in the detail of education policy and practice, introducing the National Curriculum and setting up massive frameworks of targets and testing.  This is all very costly, of course, so it is politically vital for it to be seen to 'work' - in the jargon, to 'raise standards', which in practice means simply increasing exam pass rates.   

And so - surprise, surprise - the exam pass rate has gone up steadily throughout that period.  And of course, governments have claimed the credit for this, and referred to it as 'raising standards'. 

But standards of educational achievement in the UK have not actually been rising at all, as international tests repeatedly confirm.  See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25187997

So forgive me for being cynical, Phil.  I accept what you say about your won experience, of course, and I'm not saying that everything Ofsted does is flawed.  But I think we need to recognise that they also have an agenda, in which self-preservation plays a part. 

[Rudolph Hucker]

Now Dave, I think that's a touch cynical.

For example: 2 schools that our family are involved in. 1 has just failed (manner of speaking - you don't "fail" an inspection, audit yes, inspection no), deservedly so. They need to improve and are now taking steps to do so.

The other was in the same position, 12 months ago. The then Head had driven the school down, in no small part by saving money with NQT's, but the students performance and engagement had suffered. Ofsted recognised this and reported accordingly. Since then, that Head has left for pastures new, the new Head (and teachers, parents, children, governors, etc) have turned the school around. Offsted have reinspected and recognised (and recorded) the improvement.

I'm not saying that their improvement was directly as a result of Ofsted, but it probably helped nudge both the schools in the right direction at least, and in any case their 3 reports over these 2 schools within that 12 month time frame were spot on.

Others may have alternate experiences, these are just my tuppence worth...

PS I completely and wholeheartedly agree with 'what's the point of an exam if 98% of people entering pass it?' but not sure if that's down to Ofsted. I'm happy to be enlightened though...

RH.

[Dave]

Well done to the people running the college for improving on last year's poor Ofsted report.

That said, and without taking anything away from the college's achievement, we need to recognise the game that Ofsted plays.  It is a very expensive organisation (costs about £220 million per year, which is a whole lot of dosh at a time of public expenditure cuts).  So they have to watch their backs, and above all they have to show that they are worth the money.  This means demonstrating that they are 'raising standards', which to politicians, who are obsessed with measurement, means cramming more kids through exams. 

The method goes like this:
1.  Ofsted go in to a school or college and 'fail' it, by deeming the governors or management to be 'inadequate'.
2.  The headteacher or principal is dismissed, or resigns, and a new one is appointed.
3.  Exam results are 'improved', by one means or another.  In a college this usually means making sure that students are not entered for an exam unless they are virtually certain to pass.  Hence the current A level pass rate having reached the dizzy heights of 98%!
4.  Ofsted go back in to school or college and record the 'improvement' in exam success rates.
5.  College is now no longer 'inadequate'.
6.  Ofsted quietly claims credit for 'improvement', which they argue justifies their existence.

Which is all fine and dandy, as long as we all understand what is going on, and no-one confuses exam success rates with quality of education.  And we don't ask awkward questions, such as 'what's the point of an exam if 98% of people entering pass it?'   

[JMC]

Good to see the college is improving. I wonder what will happen when/if MHS open a 6th form.

My eldest daughter attends Marple College and we have been reasonably happy so far but many of her friends parents sent their kids to Aquinas instead (some resentful to the college for the ASDA and many as Aquinas is seen as much better by many). There is a lot to be said for attending a local college though and daughter is also glad she doesn't have to battle with the awful traffic at the crack of dawn and spend free periods hanging round.

[hollins]

Cheadle and Marple Sixth-Form College Ofsted 2014 report now available at:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/130515