At last they are here! Ofsted’s Unannounced. I must be the only director in the country to have now gone through 2 inspections. Although I was confident we have worked hard to improve practice and systems at the front-line, it was with relief as well as satisfaction – especially for all the staff here who are good at their job and have worked hard – that I heard their verdict.
Only one priority area and that is about the lack of multi-agency support for children in need and a clear statement that we know ourselves well and managers are giving clear and focused leadership.
Still much to do but this must be a huge vote of confidence in the actions we are taking and will provide a platform for me to begin to challenge Ofsted more especially around their judgements on our children’s home which I think are sometimes unfair.
This leads me to an emerging priority which has got lost in the recovery actions. How do we keep the staff and managers who are good at their job when it is clear from all of the auditing – too much of it and too little of it making any difference at the front-line – that we have had several years of standards that are too low and we have had too many people at all levels including senior management who have accepted poor performance.
I must find a way of acknowledging the staff that are good, the teams that already work to high standards and are still improving and rewarding those who are responsible for this.
Just expecting them to stay and stick with us even in the context of Ofsted’s encouraging comment will not be enough and it is on this note that I will tackle the challenges of next week.
These will include progressing the selection process of our new ADs, as well as more media coverage with radio 4 and community care. Recovering was never meant to be easy.
No related posts.
surprised he is so positive about ofsted give their negative press recently. Well done Top Dog