Questions which Ofsted Inspectors may ask:
1.
How would you describe the stage of development of your department? What are
your priorities to move forward?
2.
How does your department contribute to the achievement of whole-school aims?
3.
How does your department contribute to the achievement of whole-school policy in
terms of stated priorities for the Autumn Term, for example:

 use of seating plans

 setting of regular homework

 use of formative assessment

 sharing learning objectives with students
4.
How well are students doing in your subject? What data is in place? How do you use
this data? Are there any areas/aspects in which students do particularly well or not so
well? Are there any groups of students who do better or worse than the majority?
What specific strategies have you used to further improve both attainment and
achievement?
5.
How well do you think the school is covering the National Curriculum requirements
in your department? Are schemes of work in place which include references to
assessment, literacy, Citizenship, your Specialist School area, homework etc.?
How have you sought to ensure that schemes of work meet the needs of your students,
e.g. Gifted and Talented students, SEN students etc.? Is there any notion within the
Schemes of Work that students should reach particular levels of attainment?
6.
How does the line-management structure work and how useful is it in helping you
move your department forward? What are the decision-making processes within the
school and do you feel that you are sufficiently involved? How do you manage your
department?
7.
What financial support do you receive in your area? What involvement do you have
in the allocation of money to your department? How are spending priorities
identified? Is the level of staffing sufficient and are members of the department/area
suitably qualified and experienced?
8.
How are the results of training opportunities disseminated to other members of the
department? How are professional development needs identified and met in your
department area? How helpful has the performance management programme been
to members of staff in your area in terms of improving their professional skills and
knowledge?
9.
What is your role in monitoring and evaluation? How do you monitor and evaluate
performance in your area? How do management structures within the school
monitor and support your work and the work of the department?
10.
What are the arrangements for assessment, recording and reporting? How is
assessment information used to inform planning? When and how do you moderate
work?
11.
How are special needs catered for? Are staff aware of those students in their classes
who are on the SEN register? Do staff in your department have copies of the IEPs?
How do staff help students to meet their IEP targets?
12.
How are students with English as an additional language supported in your subject
area?
13.
How does your subject contribute to students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural
moral development? To what extent is this a planned approach within the area and to
what extent does it depend on individual teachers? How does your subject contribute
to whole-school developments in literacy, numeracy and ICT? What about in PSHE,
Citizenship…
14.
Where do you want the department to be in twelve months time, i.e. how are you
going to take this department forward?