Ofsted inspectorscould return to school premisesfor monitoring inspections as soon as schools start to open more widely, new guidance suggests.
The watchdog has said today that its inspection activity willbe done remotely until 8 Marchat the earliest.
This is the date on which prime minister Boris Johnson has said schools could begin to open more widely from the national lockdown.
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Ofsted is currently carrying out remote monitoring inspections of schools rated as “requires improvement” or “inadequate”.
Coronavirus: Ofsted’s return to schools
It hadoriginally planned to send inspectors into these schools during this current national lockdown and said thatsome of its work needs to be carried out on-site.
However, it then performeda U-turnon this plan andannounced that its monitoring inspections of schools will be carried out remotely until after the February half-term in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The watchdog said it had changed its plans after the government issued advice to the publicto “act as if you have the virus”.
It has now confirmed that remote inspections will
Ofsted’s updatedguidance on its remote inspections this term says: “We have reviewed our plans for the inspections of schools, early years and further education, which were due to begin next week.
“In light of a change in emphasis from the government and clear advice to ‘act as if you have the virus’ over the next few weeks, we have decided that all planned inspection activity will be carried out remotely until March 8 at the earliest.
“We have sought regular advice from Public Health England and we remain satisfied that our planned on-site activity would be safe and appropriate under current restrictions.
“However, the new government messages and the practical challenges of deploying inspectors across England have prompted this change.”
