Response to Ofsted's Big Listen

Welcome back!

We hope you've arrived refreshed and ready for another busy academic year. Important changes from Ofsted have already landed. I expect that their first change is already buzzing around schools:?the Ofsted call will only come on a Monday!

You can read the SchoolsWeek article detailing all the changes here.

The Next Steps team are very happy to see an insight in government thinking, including:

1. An emphasis on inclusion High-quality support for disadvantaged and vulnerable children will become a benchmark, with Sir Martyn Oliver saying, "“If [schools] take on the most complex children and do good work for them, Ofsted will champion and celebrate their work. We won’t grade down schools for taking on complex [needs] children if they’re doing right by them."
2. Attendance becoming a focus of its own Rather than being a section within behaviour and attitudes, attendance will have its own focus on report cards.?
3. Grace Period on Safeguarding Concerns If safeguarding concerns are found during an an inspection of an otherwise high-performing school, Ofsted will now pause a report and allow a period where a school can address concerns, giving three months to address issues.

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Over the summer at Next Steps we've been working on improving our service to you and our students, devising ways to work even more closely with our school partners:

- our tutors and mentors will continue to write their lesson reports after each session but these will now include a rating for engagement and another for readiness to reintegrate, keeping you informed of attitudes and progress

- our live attendance reporting can be sent direct from tutor to school. Don't worry though - we will continue to do the legwork to clarify reasons for non-attendance and follow up by removing barriers to learning.

- our leadership team have created a flexible progression map to take EBSA/ SEMH students from home tuition/ mentoring through to transitions back to the classroom. We're excited to see several students returning this September in partnership with local schools.

In other news, ALL of our Year 11 students have secured the own Next Steps in Further Education or an apprenticeship. We are so proud of their achievements, not only for sitting their GCSEs but for the resilience and planning they've shown to move onto their next setting.

Next Steps Education aims to give every student an equal opportunity in education, supporting you to include each child so they can access their full potential.

If you would like to find out more about how Next Steps can support and partner with your school be curious and get in touch!

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0330 460 4650

Book a Teams Meeting: See our Calendars

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Warm regards,

Liz and Sarah

PS: Know someone who might benefit from this update? Please feel free to share it on your profile!