LSD Inspection Development Project
Workshop on self-assessment using
CIF and new inspection handbook
Sue Preece HMI
NATSPEC Conference
September 14th 2009 QAC, Birmingham
Is your self-assessment report:
 a descriptive account of your provision so that
an external observer can quickly understand
what you do, or
 a document which evaluates the quality and
effectiveness of every aspect of your
provision against the Common Inspection
Framework (CIF), and is clearly at the centre
of all of quality-improvement activities.
Self-assessment processes should
 Cover the common inspection framework
 Site robust evidence on which to build clear
unambiguous judgements
 Include SMART target setting with clear
milestones
 Be fit for purpose
 Etc.. Etc….
Publications to support self-assessment

Ofsted inspects (Ofsted 2009) explains the

Learner-Centred Self Assessment material available on
the LSIS website:

www.excellencegateway.org.uk > Ofsted Good
Practice Database > Learner-Centred Self Assessment
inspectorate’s requirements for self-assessment or
self-evaluation.
Limiting contributory grades
 Safeguarding
Two judgements on safeguarding will be made: under
the leadership and management section and in the
staying safe outcome section of all reports.
 Equality & diversity
The equality and diversity grade will contribute to and
may limit the grade for overall effectiveness
Tasks

Swap SARs with your critical friend. Choose a section
from the quality of provision or leadership and
management. Consider the evidence presented in the
SAR about this particular section and match it to the
evaluative statements in your inspection handbook.
Complete the worksheet

Use a highlighter pen or pencil to mark all of the
judgements, eg. ‘good use of’, ‘effective‘, ‘thorough’,
‘insufficient’, ‘there are no..’, etc..

NB. If the word ‘more’ has been placed in front of a judgement
such as ‘effective’, this ceases to be a clear judgement and
becomes a statement of relativity. In other words, what was
once poor may have improved, but still not be satisfactory.
Tasks - Question & Evaluation
Question

Are the tasks and activities needed to address the
issues appropriate and sufficiently detailed?
Evaluation

Targets that are not SMART risk an area for
improvement bullet such as ‘poor target setting’.
Tasks - Question & Evaluation
Question
How evaluative is the text?



To be ‘judgement rich’ there should be at least one
judgement in almost every sentence:
Judge  substantiate
Judge  substantiate
etc..
Evaluation

Text without judgements is descriptive and you risk
an area for improvement bullet such as ‘overly
descriptive and insufficiently evaluative self
assessment’.
Tasks - Question & Evaluation
Question

Are you confident that the SAR covers the whole of
the CIF? Give reasons for your answer:
Evaluation

If your SAR does not cover all aspects of the CIF you
risk a range of area for improvement bullets such as


‘insufficiently thorough self-assessment’,
‘insufficient learner engagement’, or whatever the gap
may be
Tasks regarding development plans
Question

How does the college intend to monitor the progress
of their improvement initiatives throughout the year
and determine whether planned actions are leading to
improvement?
Evaluation

A well-monitored development plan could lead to a
positive judgement about your Capacity to Improve.