The remit of the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) is to improve standards and quality of childcare and education for learners up to 19 years of age through regular inspection, some of which is carried out jointly with other inspectorates. This annual report covers the year 2004-05 and includes sections on childcare and early learning; primary and maintained nursery schools; secondary schools; special schools; pupil referral units; further education colleges; initial teacher training; local education authorities. Also included is a section on surveys and themes examining national education strategies in schools in different areas. A final section takes a retrospective view on inspection and the contribution OFSTED has made to education over the past 13 years. An accompanying CD-ROM includes detailed reports on subjects in schools and curriculum areas in colleges.

The remit of the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) is to improve standards and quality of childcare and education for learners up to 19 years of age through regular inspection, some of which is carried out jointly with other inspectorates. This annual report covers the year 2005-06 and includes sections on the quality of education and care, covering such areas as childcare and early learning; maintained schools; independent schools; further education colleges; initial teacher training. The second section looks at issues in education and care, as they apply to primary and secondary schools, as well as post 16-settings, including: local children's services; healthy eating; physical health; drug education in schools; sexual health; behaviour and anti-bullying strategies.

The book explains why and how schools and colleges in Wales have been inspected from 1839 to the present. It offers insights into the history of education and education policy making and describes how the ethos of the inspectorate changed over time. In the Victorian period, many inspectors condemned the use of Welsh in the school curriculum but later became active promoters of the teaching of the Welsh language, Welsh history and culture. It analyses the value and impact of inspection in the context of accountability and school improvement. This book critiques the debate about the future of inspection in Wales.

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 pioneering volume is the first ever to investigate in depth the myriad interconnected influences on the phenomenal growth of Welsh-medium schools over the last half century and probe the foreseeable challenges that they will have to face.

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.