I remember being a newly qualified teacher pre-Ofsted & being told an HMI was coming to check on me. He spent an hour in my class, asked if I was coping with the workload & commented how well organised the classroom was & the children seemed happy. That’s it. How times change.
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@Lucy_cat_lady
The only time I was inspected during 13 years of teaching was when he arrived in my classroom at the start of break with a cup of coffee for himself & one for me. He talked to me for the 15 minutes of break time, told me I was doing OK and then left as the children came in!
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@Lucy_cat_lady
I remember such an HMI visit also- an incredibly friendly and helpful individual unlike the member of the thought police who even persued me into the gents on one Ofsted & stood there quizzing me about the head as I used the urinal!
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@Lucy_cat_lady
I remember exactly the same experience pre - Ofsted. I asked the Head who the nice man in my classroom had been that afternoon. ‘Oh, that was an HMI I was told. Proper observation…
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@Lucy_cat_lady
When I was working as gp in thornton Cleveleys we usually knew an ofsted inspection was due when local teachers suddenly started making appointments looking for antidepressants and sleeping tablets
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@Lucy_cat_lady
Yes, HMI were generally respected. They had gravitas and were human beings for the most part. In my experience, they were also interested in what you were doing in (and out of) the classroom.
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@Lucy_cat_lady
The academies now have OAT inspectors on their case as well as ofsted, luckily I managed to avoid ofstead but , although my degree is English , I was also SEN support and was in a maths class when an OAT inspector took over the lesson and undermined the teacher - pure arrogance
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@Lucy_cat_lady
Yes, same positive experience of HMI.
I've had lots of Ofsted visits over the years in different schools, and with the same feelings of dread, fear, distress and then utterly exhausted and deflated afterwards.
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@Lucy_cat_lady
I have similar memories of HMI but I haven't, personally, had any bad experiences of Ofsted either.
They did, however,destroy an excellent school, in which I taught for many years 😡😡
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@Lucy_cat_lady
My first Ofsted at School Library asked if the pupils/teachers stole the books. I said yes, and showed him it was about 5%. He said Oh Good, you're buying the right books then!
Pupils ask about looking after snakes, spiders etc. Buy discount books, all disappeared, happy pets😊
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@Lucy_cat_lady
That was my experience. Someone sat in the back with the head, they both seemed to think I was doing a good job and they asked if I was enjoying it.
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@Lucy_cat_lady
@vjl2
An HMI once told me I was a free spirit and the school was lucky to have me. At the end of my career some twenty years later I was referred to as a free spirit again (not OFSTED) and it was not meant as a compliment.
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@Lucy_cat_lady
I taught 1970-1991- that's how I remember inspections till about late 80s-ish when the inspectors' passion was about management. Who did I report to? Bit tricky, as I was a one-man department (Classics).
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@Lucy_cat_lady
My first Ofsted (Stoke on Trent, 1997) with an external team was awful. 4 days, 5 inspectors.
My second, (Durham 1998) with a team from the county, was great. One of the inspectors spent my DT lesson sitting on the floor helping to make motors for aliens!
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