With the establishment, on 1 April 2007, of the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, Ofsted's responsibilities for inspecting children's services changed substantially, with Ofsted now regulating and inspecting childcare, children's social care and provision for learners of all ages. This report covers the first full year of reporting on the organisation's new remit. The first section presents an evaluation of the quality and standards in care, early education, schools, colleges, adult learning and skills, and children's services. It is based on evidence from more than 45,000 inspections and regulatory visits in 2007-08. The second section draws on Ofsted's thematic inspections and surveys in the different areas of its remit. This section evaluates the effectiveness with which providers seek to address three important matters: improving the life chances of the least advantaged members of society through excellence in provision; safeguarding children and young people from neglect, abuse and other forms of harm; and enabling learners to acquire the skills they need to succeed in their working lives. The Chief Inspector is encouraged by the recognition that much is going well for so many children, young people and adult learners, but frustrated that there is still too much that is patently inadequate and too many settings and institutions where the rate of improvement is unacceptably slow.

Ofsted today publishes the Annual Report 2010/11, drawing on over 31,000 inspection visits across the schools, early years, children's social care and learning and skills sectors in England. Launched by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector Miriam Rosen, this in-depth analysis provides an insight into the quality of those services for children and learners, what is working well and what needs to improve. The report highlights how an inadequate inspection judgement, whether for a children's home or a school, a college or a nursery, can be an important catalyst for change. For example, the total number of schools in a category of concern - that is judged to be in special measures or being given a notice to improve - reduced from 553 at the end of last year to 451 at the end of August 2011. Over a fifth of schools judged inadequate at their previous inspection were found to be good or better when inspected again this year. In addition, schools are now emerging from special measures faster than the previous year - after an average of 18 months rather than 20. In inspections of local authorities'; children's social care, where Ofsted completed the second full year of unannounced inspection of contact, referral and assessment arrangements, weaknesses identified the previous year had been addressed in the great majority of cases.

This publication brings together OFSTED inspection and regulation data covering the period from September 2006 to August 2007. With the establishment on 1 April 2007, of the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, OFSTED's responsibilities for inspecting children's services changed substantially, with OFSTED now regulating and inspecting childcare, children's social care and provision for learners of all ages. The first part of the report summarises the outcomes of routine inspections and regulatory visits across OFSTED's remit. The second part of the report examines three important themes in education and care: (i) improved life chances of children and older learners from disadvantaged backgrounds; (ii) the experience of children and young people where education and care develops awareness of personal, cultural and national identity; (iii) the effectiveness of education and training for young people entering work. The report also refers to the national test results for 2007.

This book examines how developing law and policies in England and Wales simultaneously promote and undermine children's rights.

This report considers the roles of a variety of different agents for accountability in the English school system. The first part examines self-evaluation, self-improvement partners and local authorities. Schools have increasingly been encouraged to formalise the self-evaluation process as part of their improvement strategy. They are assisted in their self-evaluation and improvement processes by School Improvement Partners (SIPs) who are appointed by the local authority. School provision is commissioned by local authorities, who also have a remit to monitor local schools' performance. The report then focuses on the work of Ofsted. School inspection reports are a major source of information about a school's performance, and inspection is often the trigger for a school to address its performance issues. The report then looks at the Achievement and Attainment Tables, formerly known as performance tables. The tables have been the subject of controversy for many years because, although they do not actually rank schools according to their performance in national examinations, they permit others, especially the media, to do so. Critics argue that they give only a partial view of a school's overall performance, and the proposed School Report Card is an attempt to address this issue by providing more information on a wider range of performance indicators. The school accountability process has become very complex with new programmes and policies emerging piecemeal from central government. There are concerns about the consistency of approach in such a complex system. And are schools really free to drive their own improvement given that they are still subject to programmes devised and applied by central government?

Based on the Transforming Lives research project, this book explores the transformative power of further education. The book outlines a timely and critical approach to educational research and practice, and draws extensively on the testimonies of students and teachers to construct a model of transformative teaching and learning. It critiques reductive ‘skills’ policies in further education and illuminates the impact colleges and lifelong learning have on social justice outcomes for individuals, their families and communities. For trainee teachers, teachers, leaders, researchers and policy makers alike, the book presents a persuasive argument for transformative approaches to teaching and learning, and highlights the often unmeasured and under-appreciated holistic social benefits of further education.

For all undergraduate, postgraduate and school-based routes to qualified teacher status, Learning to Teach in the Secondary School is an essential introduction to the key skills and knowledge needed to become a secondary teacher. Underpinned by evidence-informed practice and focussing on what you need to know to thrive in the classroom, the eighth edition is fully updated in light of changes in the field, covers new topics and provides additional guidance on topics such as developing your resilience, using digital technologies, closing the achievement gap and using data to inform your teaching and pupil learning. The text includes a wealth of examples and tasks to demonstrate how to successfully apply theory to practice and how to critically reflect on and analyse your practice to maximise pupil learning. The wide range of pedagogical features supports both school- and university-based work up to Masters level. Written by experts in the field, the 37 concise units create unit-by-unit coverage that can be dipped into, offering guidance on all aspects of learning to teach including: Managing your workload Lesson planning Curriculum Motivating pupils Promoting behaviour for learning Assessment, marking and feedback Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Applying for jobs, developing as a professional and networking Learning to Teach in the Secondary School provides practical help and guidance for many of the situations and potential challenges you are faced with in school. The text is extended by a companion website that includes additional information as well as specific units covering England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Supported by the subject-specific titles in the Learning to Teach Subjects in the Secondary School Series, it is an essential purchase for every aspiring secondary school teacher.