Getting ready for a history subject review: knowing what OFSTED inspectors are looking for and the criteria they are using. It is essential that you keep up-to-date with current OFSTED thinking against which your department will be judged. There are 3 ways of doing this.
Make sure you have read and assimilated all the detail within the most recent report in this case History For All published in March 2011. You will find a copy of the report here.
You must know the current Framework for Inspection and the History subject-specific guidance available on the OFSTED website. Look at the examples of best practice that feature of the OFSTED website. It is never easy for busy subject leaders to know when these appear and to find time to digest them. To make life easier I have summarized the top 10 messages from the last case study of Best practice in secondary history written in May 2012.
Also very popular is the advice on Monitoring, Forward Planning, Raising attainment and Using Data.
One recent upload was written by a Head of History who was deciding what his priorities ought to be in the year. It would be really interesting to compare his priorities with yours.
For new heads of history this site is a must. Those areas with which you might be less familiar, such as data analysis are all explained in accessible detail with telling examples.
