Five things Ofsted has told its inspectors this term

Five things Ofsted has told its inspectors this term

Watchdog updates inspectors how to work with teachers and how Covid catch-up work should be assessed.

Ofsted has published new advice to its inspection teams as the watchdog moves back to a full inspection programme in this new academic year.

The advice sets out how inspectors are expected to gather evidence during deep dives into individual subjects, and advises them how to assess schools’ catch-up work.

Read this article here: TES

Schools politicising lessons on gender, says Ofsted

Watchdog concerned over the way issues of sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment are taught in schools

Schools are using “overtly political materials” to teach children about gender issues, Ofsted has warned, despite the statutory requirement for neutrality.

When it comes to teaching children about sex, sexual orientation and gender reasignment, some school staff are “confusing” their legal obligations under the Equality Act with the moral and the political, according to the school watchdog.

Ofsted issued the warning as part of a commentary on research it has recently carried out into how these topics are taught. 

Summarising the research findings, Chris Jones, Ofsted’s director of corporate strategy, said that when the Equalities Act was introduced in 2010, it was “contentious from the outset”, particularly in relation to characteristics relating to sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

Read more in The Telegraph.