- Inspectors will consider a range of sources of evidence, including evidence of how those with governance responsibility assure themselves that leaders and managers are fulfilling their responsibilities to ensure that the Standards relating to pupils' education, training and recreation are met.
- Other sources of evidence include, but are not limited to:
- discussions with leaders and documentary evidence of the school's evaluation of pupils' progress and attainment. Inspectors will evaluate the school's attainment information in public examinations for all groups of pupils. Inspectors will ask school leaders to provide their evaluation of pupils' progress in the school and consider the ambition of any benchmarks that the school uses. Inspectors will want to understand the action leaders are taking to address any underperformance of any pupils
- discussions with leaders and documentary evidence to understand and evaluate the school's curriculum provision, including any reasonable adjustments made for pupils with a disability. Inspectors will assess whether the school is providing a programme of activities that are appropriate to pupils' needs in the areas of linguistic; mathematical; scientific; technological; aesthetic and creative; and speaking, listening, literacy and numeracy
- discussion with leaders and staff and documentary evidence of the effectiveness of the school's approach to assessment
- direct observations of teaching and learning across a range of subjects and year groups, including some joint lesson walks with senior leaders and focused lesson observations by inspectors.
- Inspectors will consider:
- how effectively lessons are planned
- how teaching:
- demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being taught with understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainment of pupils, gained from regular and thorough assessment of pupils' work
- uses effective teaching methods and activities
- manages class time and pupils' behaviour well
- uses a range of good quality classroom resources well
so that all pupils:
- acquire new knowledge,increase their understanding, and develop their skills (make good progress) in the subjects taught, and
- are interested in their work
- apply intellectual, physical and creative effort
- act responsibly
- are self-motivated, thinking and learning for themselves.
- Inspectors will not make a judgment about individual lessons but consider the typicality of their evaluations across a range of lesson visits. Inspectors will evaluate and draw conclusions about what is typical in particular subject areas, across year groups or throughout the school
- direct observations of recreational activities and evidence of the offer and take up of recreational activities
- discussions with teachers including any subject leaders to explore curriculum provision and assessment processes
- discussions with pupils in their lessons, where appropriate to consider the context of the lesson observation and to review pupils' progress in their work
- scrutiny of pupils' work including with staff and pupils to include work that is held digitally
- discussions with pupils about their work and their opportunities for recreation
- discussions with staff and pupils along with documentary evidence of the opportunities for recreation, and the take-up of pupils
- discussions with staff who oversee and teach pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including examples chosen by inspectors onsite. Inspectors will be interested to understand how the school supports pupils who have SEND and how it measures the impact of any support on the progress of pupils. Inspectors will remember that pupils who have SEND can have a range of diverse needs, they cannot be viewed as a homogenous group. For this reason, inspectors will consider specific examples they choose during the inspection
- discussions with staff who oversee and teach pupils who speak English as an additional language or any other significant groups of pupils in the school. Inspectors will be interested to understand how the school measures the impact of any additional support and leaders' views of the progress of these groups
- information from the school's website and other sources of information for parents including that which relates to the curriculum and pupils' achievement
- responses to ISI inspection surveys for pupils, staff and parents
- inspectors will be alert to any evidence that teaching undermines fundamental British values or discriminates against pupils contrary to Part 6 of the Equality Act 2010
- inspectors will consider the arrangements to provide for boarders' activities and free time, taking into account the requirements of NMS 18.
- Triangulation of evidence for section two of the framework
