Guidance around Ofsted inspection arrangements (from January 2012)

13 December 2011

The PSHE Association wishes to draw members’ attention to the arrangements for Ofsted inspection from January 2012 in which there is a stronger emphasis on lessons. It is therefore likely that PSHE education lessons will be inspected. Additionally there will be 60 subject inspections annually of PSHE education by Ofsted. Teachers also need to be aware of the strong focus upon pupils’ literacy capability.

A well-planned, coherent and effective PSHE education programme will provide concrete evidence of the school’s provision in promoting pupils’ behaviour and safety and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

It may also provide evidence of the impact of this on achievement and on ‘developing and applying a wide range of skills that will prepare pupils for the next stage in their education or employment drawing on excellent subject knowledge, promoting resilience, confidence and independence’.

Our new briefing outlines where PSHE education will fit into and support this new Ofsted framework. This can be downloaded below along with Ofted's supplementary subject-specific guidance for PSHE education. This guidance (for PSHE and other subjects) is also accessible from the Ofsted website.

Ofsted has recently updated its PSHE education website section and amongst the very useful case studies, reports and examples of good practice, you can find subject survey feedback letters to schools. These cover school visits from the beginning of this school year and will be updated each term.

Also, following requests from members for advice in relation to the inspection of SMSC in the Ofsted Inspection framework and guidance 2012, we've put together a paper below drawing from the existing Ofsted guidance on SMSC (published in 2004), which has not yet been superseded.

 

PSHE Association briefing - Ofsted Inspection from January 2012 FINAL.pdf

Ofsted - Supplementary subject specific guidance - PSHE.pdf

PSHE Association briefing - Ofsted SMSC Criteria - Mar 2012.doc