Most of us who work in children’s services recognise that there have to be national standards for children in care.
It’s been said that that achieving an outstanding rating at a first inspection is impossible. In fact, in 2013/14 Ofsted judged six per cent of children's homes to be outstanding at their first inspection. That proportion rose to 12 per cent in 2015/16.
Good leaders are simultaneously culture creators and great managers. They know what systemic good practice looks like, both in principle and in people’s day to day work. They can combine their knowledge of how the system works, and could improve, with strong skills in making every day’s work the best that can be achieved.
This is a really interesting time for me and my colleagues at Ofsted as we shape how we think Ofsted inspections can add the most value in vulnerable children’s lives from January 2018 (the new inspection framework will be published this autumn).
We’re approaching the dreaded exam period. Children and young people up and down the country will soon find out whether all their hard work has paid off.
Having been at Ofsted for more than a year, I want to have a conversation about the big issues that social workers and other social care professionals deal with in their working day.
At the end of February, we were delighted to publish Ofsted’s new social care common inspection framework (SCCIF). Simply put, it brings together all our inspection guidance for 8 different types of settings into one straightforward framework.