I have been commenting quite a lot recently on the decision of Ofsted to continue inspecting while the pandemic is still with us. I have been deeply concerned by recent inspection reports I have read where the evidence doesn’t appear to support the judgement or where a slither of evidence is used to make quite damning overall judgements on effectiveness.

There has been much comment in the past few days regarding Ofsted’s expectation that around half of existing Grade 1 schools will be downgraded when they are next inspected. I am unsure how accurate the estimation is because I am hearing that significantly more than half are being downgraded. Time will tell.

wide range of inspection reports. I was working alongside a more experienced HMI and it was a truly enlightening experience. I gained much from the wisdom, common sense and measured approach that he adopted.