The renewed Ofsted framework poses an interesting challenge for school leadership teams. 

While subject leaders will no longer have “deep dives” to contend with, there is still an expectation to demonstrate a strong understanding of what is being taught, how it is being taught, and what the impact is. This isn’t just the responsibility of subject leads; the school’s senior leaders have a role to play, too.

Subject leaders and their line managers therefore need to be closely aligned, so they know what the demands of the subject are, what is working well, what needs more work and what is being done to achieve that.

So how should senior leaders - whose subject expertise may be in a completely different discipline to the heads of department they line manage - best support their teams to ensure everyone is ready for an Ofsted visit? Here is some advice.

1. Don’t lose sight of the curriculum

The quality of what is being taught, and when, remains an important conversation between line managers and subject leads. The curriculum still needs to be broad and ambitious, to clearly identify what pupils will be learning in depth and why, and to be carefully sequenced so that learning progresses over time.

Regular, structured conversations are key. These do not need to be lengthy meetings, but should happen frequently enough to build a shared understanding of the subject. In termly curriculum reviews, for example, the subject leader might explain what is being taught in the current unit, how it builds on prior learning and what pupils will go on to study next. Line managers can ask questions that clarify the rationale behind sequencing decisions, key concepts and where pupils typically struggle.

Alongside this, short visits to lessons and occasional looks at pupils’ work allow line managers to see how the planned curriculum is playing out in classrooms, and give an indication of where teams might need further support.

2. Look at adaptive planning

Experienced teachers make in-the-moment adaptations to lessons all the time, revisiting something that hasn’t quite landed as intended or adding a scaffold or resource where needed. However, planning possible adaptations in advance leaves less to chance, helping to ensure that the most important knowledge can be learned and applied by all.

Line managers should discuss with subject leads what the plans for adaptation are and think ahead about what this means for certain groups of pupils, such as those with SEND or who are identified as pupil premium.

For example, in a history lesson where pupils are analysing a written source, some pupils might struggle with the vocabulary or sentence structure. A department might plan for this by pre-teaching key vocabulary, providing a short glossary, or using a partially completed model paragraph that shows how to structure a response.

During curriculum meetings, sample some pupils and explore together what learning might look like for them in this subject. These conversations help to move adaptation from a general idea to something more concrete.

3. Walk the walk

In the renewed framework, there is less emphasis on curricular conversations in initial meetings with inspectors, so there won’t necessarily be a chance to talk about intent or unpack data before lesson visits and the subsequent reflections.

This means that whoever will be accompanying inspectors on the lesson visits needs to understand the curriculum, know what adaptations have been planned for and know why teachers are teaching a topic in a particular way.

As a line manager, there is no substitute for walking around a classroom and reflecting on what is and is not visible in terms of the planning and preparation that has gone into the lesson. If something is not apparent through observation alone, then that is an indication that you would want to explain this in discussions with your inspector.

Taking the time to visit lessons shouldn’t just be about preparing for Ofsted, though. This is a powerful method for helping line managers to get to know the subject, the strengths of the individuals delivering the content and the climate for learning in those lessons.

It is also a powerful way to explore impact. Can pupils do what is being asked of them? Is it helping them to build on what went before and what comes next?

4. Look at the impact

As well as lesson visits, there are plenty of other sources that can help leaders to measure impact. For example, external examinations and high-quality internal assessments offer insight into what pupils know and can do.

Looking at pupils’ books is another way for leaders to find out about their learning and progress. This can be even more useful when coupled with pupil voice and teacher discussions.

Ultimately, the more we know about what pupils have learned, the better able we are to spot gaps that need to be tackled.

Through high-quality curriculum conversations, visits to lessons and discussions with staff and pupils, leaders can help to ensure that everyone has the confidence not only to meet the requirements of the new Ofsted toolkit, but to keep things moving in the right direction for pupils.

Zoe Enser is the school improvement lead for a trust in the North West of England