Inspecting RE in Faith Schools

Image courtesy of The Archives of Disease in Childhood

The Guardian reports that Tristram Hunt has said, "there is a case for Ofsted to be allowed to inspect religious education in faith schools, saying schools may be exacerbating religious and ethnic segregation in English cities." (see <here> for full article)

This seems like a logical and natural reaction to the Trojan Horse scandal. However to look at Hunt's comments appears to show an accusation against faith schools:

"We have particular concerns that Ofsted is not allowed to inspect religious teaching in faith schools – that seems to me to be a slightly curious situation. It is a worrying trend in terms of cultural and ethnic identification through schooling."

OFSTED can currently go into RE lessons in faith schools to observe teaching and learning, and they do! I got observed during our last visit in November 2013 (see <here>). I don't see how there is a great need to inspect the content of religious teaching, especially given a sometimes limited understanding of the topics; I only got a Good rating as I gave Y7 students a theologically sound definition of the Messiah instead of letting students "work it out for themselves in pairs". This was a new topic to them, and none of them speak Hebrew.

Faith Schools have a separate Section 48 which checks their RE content. Ours was far more intense for the RE department than the Section 5! I had three full lesson observations (see <here>). There was thorough book checking, schemes of works were read, a whole separate SEF. Now, if Hunt is claiming we need to have examined exactly how the Qu'ran is being interpreted, or if Catholic teaching is being promoted in a liberal or conservative way, we may well need experts on the topics; that won't be OFSTED. 

Hunt went on to say, "Our answer is making sure Ofsted inspects schools on the basis of a broad and balanced curriculum.”.

For me this is a clear suggestion that he does not believe that faith schools provide this. St Benedict's in Suffolk was a RC faith school which suffered from this agenda which has already begun. It's initial OFSTED report said:

“It is not made clear how all students are prepared for life and work in modern Britain... Leadership and management could be made more effective by “making clearer the contribution to students’ preparation for life and work in modern Britain and the dangers of extremism”

A statement from Ofsted said inspectors were now paying greater attention to ensuring that schools provided a broad and balanced curriculum. This faith school seemingly didn't fit the bill.

It is interesting, and a fact seemingly forgotten, is that the Trojan Horse schools in Birmingham were not indeed faith schools. They were community schools, who OFSTED had inspected and failed to notice things going wrong as they focused purely on numeracy and literacy. Why then are faith schools now being targeted?

The feel from many, especially those working in faith schools, is that all of a sudden, to be Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or even maybe CoE is to not hold British Values. And we're going to be targeted and made an example of by politicians on both sides who do not understand the unique and special place that faith schools hold in our British society.

Section 48 Inspection - Part 3: Outcome, Feedback & Reflections

• Part 1: Pre-Inspection
• Part 2: The Day

Outcome:

Following the Section 48 inspection, we are delighted that, once again the school was rated as ‘Outstanding’.

The inspectors were highly impressed by the quality of teaching in the RE department as well as the learning outcomes for pupils. Furthermore, they praised the prayer life of the school, the sense of community and strong family ethos and the high quality of pastoral care that the girls receive.

http://www.mary.havering.sch.uk/

Feedback:

I know OFSTED are currently moving away from rating individual lessons, and indeed I have blogged about it <here>, but I hoped to get at least some feedback from the Section 48 inspectors about my teaching. Unfortunately this wasn't to be. I have no idea what I did right, or indeed how I could have been better. However from the comments made to the Subject Leader during the feedback meeting, all three of my lessons were rated as Outstanding. This is obviously pleasing but I have no idea what I did particually right. Of course, I must have 'ticked all the boxes' of their criteria (found <here>):

"Standards pupils achieve in Religious Education are very high. Attainment indicators for the final key stage are almost all significantly above average. Progress is at least good in each key stage for different groups and is exemplary in most. Most pupils concentrate very well and are rarely off task even in extended periods without direction from an adult. They have developed an enthusiasm for tackling challenging activities. Their keenness and commitment to succeed and ability to grasp opportunities to extend and improve their learning are exceptional."

That is obviously pleasing to know, BUT, I always want to be better. I want to know what wasn't quite perfect so I know how to move forward. I'd even swap this for the 3 shiny Outstanding badges. To be observed for 3 lessons and get not a word of feedback is frustrating.

I hoped the report may give further insight after 7 lessons were observed, yet of the 6 page document, this was the only paragraph dedicated to it:

"Progress in religious education is outstanding. Pupils work with application and interest. They enjoy their religious education lessons and work very well together. They are eager to participate in activities and keen to do well. They have a good knowledge of the Catholic faith appropriate to their age and abilities. Workbooks are very well presented, show coverage of the curriculum and indicate a varied range of tasks. Standards of attainment exceed national expectations."

Again obviously very pleasing but after such preparation and the hours spent ensuring lessons, lesson plans, data, marking etc were ready for the inspectors, it feels a little short of the mark. The feedback in the meeting was that marking was "not bad" but could be further improved with more student feedback on marking. This basically echoed our OFSTED Section 5 report. They then made it clear that our marking was good, but could be "even better".

Reflections:

I was obviously incredibly pleased with the outcome of the inspection, as was the subject leader and the rest of the department, as well as SLT. However I do personally feel the report nor feedback fully appreciates the hard work that went into the inspection. At least with OFSTED some time is set aside for inspectors to meet with staff, even if the feedback varied. I felt like someone came to my lesson, made copious notes, and I have no idea what they say... good, bad or ugly! I presume I can write to the Diocese and make a request under the Data Protection Act like I did with OFSTED, but I think that wouldn't be great for me or my school politically.

Many staff, as they congratulated us, said there is no way their department would have survived such intense scrutiny and come out well. I'm not sure if Department OFSTED inspections still happen, it's hard to keep up, but they can be the only thing that comes close. Additionally so many of the outcomes are whole school, yet so much falls on the shoulders of the RE Department. 

My thanks do go to the inspectors for recognising our hard work; we are an outstanding department in every respect. We constantly challenge ourselves, keep moving forward and work incredibly hard. It is great that has been formally awarded the Outstanding badge, but I still feel a little short changed.

NB I may add to this later... plus report has been published but is not online anywhere yet. I will link as soon as I can! 

Section 48 Inspection - Part 2: The Day

• Part 1: Pre-Inspection
• Part 3: Outcome, Feedback & Reflections

The Night Before

We took all our department documents down to the headteacher's office. This was over 10 folders including all schemes of work, department handbook, open evening folder, intervention folder, support and monitoring file... literally everything.

Additionally there were about 10 books from each Key Stage 3 year group, 10 Key Stage 4 folders and 10 Key Stage 5 folders. They had asked for 'top-middle-bottom' and, as much as was logistically possible, we provided this.

The headteacher had kindly given over her office to the inspection team for the day so they had a spacious and central location in which to base themselves. We got it all set up and left for an early night... (well I went to #TMLondonBus!)

The Morning

As per usual, I was in just before 7am. I double checked my last few books and took them down to the headteachers office... as I was returning to my desk I noticed that at the front door was the lead inspector and his 'shadow' (who was undertaking training). It was just before 7.10am and they were here and I was on my own!

I welcomed them and showed them to their base, made them coffee and offered them toast. They were happy enough and they sat down to discuss the final timetable and start going through the documentation. At this point it became clear that the other inspector would be observing further lessons and I had expected two observations but now had three...

Before school various short meetings happened with the RE Subject Leader and Headteacher followed by the chaplain and link governor. The lead was thorough in getting his understanding of RE and the ethos of the school before going near the RE classroom.

All three of the RE staff had PPA during period one, so there was a little breathing/panic time!

My Lessons

Being observed three times in a day creates an unimaginable stress. With OFSTED there is that adrenalin pumping wondering if they will arrive or not... with S48, you know in advance; it's an unavoidable inevitability. Having experienced both, I'd prefer OFSTEDs surprise method, especially as statistically you are still more unlikely to be seen than seen!

First up was my lovely, lovely Year 7 class. They got seen by OFSTED and of any class I teach, they just sparkle and buzz in all the right ways! In my nine years of teaching, they are one of the classes that stick out in my mind as being a joy to teach and I always look forward to their lesson. They were properly prepared, even trying out the room where we going to have the lesson (we had several room changes as I teach in 17 different rooms all over the school).

The lesson was based on the early Church, post-Pentecost, looking at the actions of the disciples, the healing of the lame man by Peter and some of the repercussions for early Christians. The lead inspector arrived for the second half of the lesson (25mins) and spent his whole time looking at books (he must have looked around 20 out of the 30) and spoke to a large number of students about the lesson, about RE, about their prior learning, about their enjoyment of the subject and so on. The students were brilliant, as they always are in our lessons. I really wanted to make it clear that this was so typical... their behaviour, focus, enthusasm was just the same as normal. Plus my lesson was actually exactly the same as I taught it last year. The only difference is that I had a pack of data for the inspector that he took away to scrutinise. Also Section 48 still demands a lesson plan and copy of resources.

The lesson with my Year 10 Set 2 was a new lesson I devised purely as the media questions on the EdExcel spec needed further time spent on them. It was an odd set up whereby I had been given additional TA support, plus inspector, plus shadow inspector, plus 30 students. This made it a little cosy! The two inspectors were there for the full 50 mins and literally left "no stone unturned" in regards to folders, marking and student opinion. We had some great discussion, good reflection on the role of the media and it's portrayal of families, particularly religious ones. Everyone made great progress and I was happy. As predicted, again, the girls were brilliant: focused, charming and involved.

Period 4 was CP (Citizenship & PHSE) and it was my House Feast Day, so we had Mass. One of the inspectors concelebrated which was a nice touch. The other visited Y9 and Y8 lessons, arranged only at break time, delivered by non-RE staff. This was the warning that been given to all staff the day before; "it could be you" for CP.

The inspectors spent lunch in the dining hall with students and then meeting the school council and, other groups of students. The rest of the Department breathed a slight sigh of relief as their two observations were over. I had my third and final one to go with Y13...

Given the inspectors both being priests, I decided to add some explicit Catholic links to my lesson on Donovan's article from the Implications unit. We had just finished the section on intuition and knowledge and we looked at the example of Bernadette at Lourdes. Considering it was something new, it worked very well and I'll definitely be using again. The girls really showed themselves in the best possible way, giving articulate, high level responses to every question I asked. The inspector was in there for 35mins from the start, a little longer than he planned... He apologised as he said he was so engrossed in the lesson that he forgot to leave. Always a good sign.

Y11 Set 1, period 6; the inspectors had said they weren't coming in to this lesson, however things had already changed a few times during the day. I finally let my guard down at 3.15pm, 15mins of the day to go. The only lesson of the day that didn't get observed! (It was a good one on the 10 Commandments, prepared regardless, just in case.

Part 3: Feedback, Reflections & Outcome on its way...

Section 48 Inspection - Part 1: Pre-Inspection

• Part 2: The Day
• Part 3: Outcomes, Feedback and Reflections

For an RE teacher in a Catholic school, OFSTED is naturally stressful (see my blogs on the visit <here> and the feedback <here>), but in reality when everyone else breaths a sigh of relief, the RE department go into overdrive.

If you have never heard of a Section 48 Inspection, there is information from the DfE, complied by @ClerkToGovernor <here>:

"If a school has a religious character, as determined by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, denominational religious education and the content of collective worship are inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The inspectors who conduct section 48 inspections are appointed by the school’s governing body in consultation with the appropriate religious authority, and are normally drawn from the relevant faith group’s section 48 inspectorate (for instance, the Catholic Education Service in the case of Roman Catholic schools...)"

Our inspection was carried out by BRES, but due the national shortage of trained Section 48 inspectors, our lead came from outside the Diocese.

Time Frame

The time-frame varies hugely and other schools in our local area had their visit 4 to 5 weeks after OFSTED with approximately 3 weeks notice. Our OFSTED was in early November and so by this rational, we would be inspected the week before Christmas. We were in two minds, we wanted to get it over and done with, but equally didn't want to review our usual Christmas schedule of lessons. The call never came.

Nor did it in January and I was getting personally quite conscious, given I was due to get married on the 15th February. Finally the call came on Tuesday 11th February, ready for 'the visit' on Thursday 13th March.

Now, with OFSTED you get the call at lunchtime and you are physically limited by what you can 'pull out of the bag'. With Section 48, you know exactly who you will have with a great deal of notice. This is not as great as you think:

• You can't plan the lesson until nearer the time. This sits at the back of your mind... shall I do this? Shall I do that? Will they be ready for this?
• When you do decide, you plan, replan, over plan, panic about the plan... (and Section 48 in our Diocese still want to see the actual plan!)
• Your marking becomes solely focused on the classes they will be seeing that day. Other classes get pushed to the back. This isn't right and I am now in the process of giving them my undivided attention!
• And this is just the lessons.... I am second in department and no chance to shirk responsibility!

Pre-Visit

The SEF was sent off the day after the phone call. Every electronic document that existed for the Department was requested including SRE policy, PHSE curriculum, pastoral care policy etc. It also included every scheme of work: Key Stage 3 to 5. These were all emailed to the lead inspector, as requested, on Monday 3rd March (my 30th birthday lunch was postponed due to amount of documents that had to be collated and emailed off!). This gave the lead a week to digest them before his pre-inspection visit on Monday 10th March.

At this meeting the lead inspector thanked us for all the documentation before meeting with the Headteacher and then later the Head of Department. We hoped to finalise an inspection timetable, i.e. who would be seen and when. However it later transpired the timetable we made was only for his visits and not those for the other inspector...

In-Between

Most staff still see Section 48 as just for the RE department. Yes, largely it is, but it is still a whole school inspection. Our Citizenship and PHSE curriculum was definitely on the agenda; all staff contribute to that. Plus inspectors always scrutinise form rooms in which RE is taught... not necessarily the form rooms of RE staff. Also they attend any assemblies or collective worship. Finally they look for evidence all around the place for your ethos and all the extra curricular things going on.

Needless to say, the rest of the week was spent chasing around various staff making sure all the fine touches were in place. Again you are limited when OFSTED call, with Section 48, there can be no excuses!

Part 2: The Day coming soon...