The Equals Curricula and Ofsted.

Paper 1.

Engaging with the Ofsted phone call and opening discussions

This is a short ‘advice’ paper to schools already (or considering) working with any of the Equals ‘different not differentiated’ curricula such as the Pre-Formal (PMLD) Curriculum, the Informal (CLD) Curriculum or the Semi-Formal (SLD) Curriculum.

The main basis for this advice is founded on discussions with former SEND lead HMIs such as Nick Whittaker and Maxine MacDonald-Taylor and the latest Ofsted information on SEND in the EIF (Education Inspection Framework) which is held in a webinar video released on 10th November 2022. This is entitled ‘Ofsted inspections in special schools’ and can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=279-kf1R_hY

Equals is actively seeking discussions with the new lead HMI for SEND (Kathryn Rudd) and will keep schools informed of any new developments.

The first thing to say is that preparation for Ofsted will include informing the visiting Inspectors that your school is not working with the National Curriculum for all learners, and some schools may well extend that to not working with the National Curriculum for any learners. Most SLD specialist schools will have a very small handful who might be, or are well on their way to being, fluently literate and/or numerate. The first thing to establish during the initial telephone conversation however, is that you are running a ‘different not differentiated’ curriculum model based on the Equals multi-tiered curriculum pathways, for most of your learners.

We also strongly advise that your SEF clearly and unequivocally states the case. There is no statutory obligation to have a SEF, but it is an excellent opportunity for your school to go into some detail about what you do and most importantly, why you do it. In other words, you can go some way towards answering the first of Ofsted’s Three Is of Intent, Implementation and Impact. Don’t hold anything back and don’t leave the Inspector(s) expecting to see one thing and actually seeing something else when they arrive. Like all teachers, Ofsted Inspectors need to prepare, and if you’re preparing them for the wrong things, this will cause difficulties which can easily be avoided.

It is likely that the Inspectors will have heard of the Equals Curricula, but it is also quite possible that they have not. Do not however, assume that Inspectors, even HMIs, will have a deep and meaningful understanding of any of the Equals Curricula in detail. Senior leaders should therefore have a sound understanding of the pedagogical justification for not teaching the National Curriculum and must be able to talk the talk! The point about this is, that ‘walking the walk’ (teachers being super-confident in their ability to understand and teach the various ‘subjects’ in the various Equals Curricula) will take time – at least two and quite possibly five years. Ofsted will not expect all teachers to be perfect, but SLT and teachers must know and believe in the reasons for change. Equals can offer practical support in this process – talk to Paul Buskin at Equals if you are interested in exploring this further.

Change is always problematic, and curriculum is the most fundamental change that a school can envisage. However, having a clear understanding of why you’re changing is a necessary pre-requisite and all stakeholders, leaders, teachers, governors and parents need to be able to hold a conversation on this. When faced with Ofsted, senior leaders must be the most knowledgeable of all and should be able to hold their line in any academic discussions that might arise.

Your main lines of ‘talking the talk’ might be

1. That you hold very high ambitions for all of your learners. Ofsted talk a lot about having ‘high ambition’ for those with SEND, though they do not say exactly what they mean by this, since it is up to each individual school to talk this talk, according to the school’s individual circumstances. In Equals terms, the school is demonstrating high ambition for all by adopting a curriculum model which seeks to enable each and every learner to be the best they can be and do the best they can do, regardless of their disabilities.

It is strongly recommended that school leaders, teachers and governors spend time with the Basic Principles sections of at least the four core Semi-Formal Curriculum ‘subjects’ of My Communication, My Play, My Independence and My Thinking and Problem Solving, as well as Basic Principles sections of the Informal Curriculum and the Pre-Formal Curriculum, assuming your school also houses learners with PMLD and CLD (Complex Learning Disabilities). Reading these through and discussing the issues with colleagues will help to ground the theory, and understanding the theory is a really important first step. It is also really important that new staff (and new governors) are encouraged to do the same as they begin their work with the school.

2. That you’re not trying to cure the learning disability by constantly teaching knowledge and skills to pupils (such as in a Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme) when the pupils are consistently and over time, unable to progress. Those with PMLD and SLD learn differently to neuro-typical, conventionally developing learners, and if the learn differently, we ought to teach them differently and teach them different things (Imray and Hinchcliffe, 2014; Imray and Colley, 2017). The Curriculum Imperative, a chapter from this latter book which goes into some detail about learning differently is obtainable from direct request to Sarah Binns at Equals via sarah@equalsoffice.co.uk  

3. That you’re basing your curriculum on the fact that there is no research evidence, anywhere in the world, that indicates that fluency in literacy and numeracy is possible from a position of established profound, complex or severe learning disability. There is quite an amount of research about marginal gains being possible with intensive support, but none that states that short term marginal gains can be maintained over time. There is also quite an amount about ‘catch-up’ being possible for some with SEND, but none which says that all with SEND can achieve such success. The latest on research into SLD and PMLD is reviewed in Imray P, Kossyvaki L and Sissons M (2023) Evidence-based practice: the use and abuse of research. Support for Learning. 38 (1). You can obtain a free download of this article at https://nasenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-9604.12438

A separate short paper on Deep Dives into Reading, Writing and/or Mathematics will also be made available at www.equals.co.uk over the next month or two.

Peter Imray

8th March 2023