Ofsted

Our RBWM GTTP course has been visited by Ofsted this week and consequently I was observed by the inspector. Although our course leaders stressed that it was not us as the trainees that were under pressure, it was nearly impossible not to feel that this was more than your average lesson.

The process itself was probably easier than an genuine Ofsted inspection. Mainly because I knew exactly what lesson I was going to be observed in, I wasn't being directly judged and still have the safety net of being a trainee which is very protective. Despite a serial case of planners block and a real struggle to finalise what I was going to the lesson itself went as well as I could have hoped for. Meeting the inspector before the lesson put my mind at rest as he was very approachable. He had some very positive things to say during the lesson and made comments regarding my strategies for pupils feeding back without necessarily having the need to put their hands up.

When Rich Long and I had our feedback session with him later that morning, he continued to suggest things that were positive with the lesson. Rich awarded it a 1a (well above the standard) and the Ofsted inspector informed me that it was a very good lesson, needing only a few small changes to the learning objectives in order to extend the higher ability pupils would have made it outstanding. This was incredibly pleasing.

The whole process was beneficial, partially because whilst the pressure wasn't entirely on me it was like a mock/practice final observation. It addressed some issues that my lead teachers and I were having regarding what was recognised as a 1b/1a compared to Ofsted inspections and it also highlighted some issues regarding my learning objectives (and more explicitly how precise and focused they are).