Amid the frenzy of exams and end-of-year summer events, the consultation on the new Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspection framework, which got under way last week, may easily be missed.

And, while the proposals are positioned as a neat and natural next step once the current inspection cycle concludes, one can’t help but feel they have been framed, in part, as a response to last year’s safeguarding scandals.

As a result, it makes for interesting reading.

A widening lens

At first glance, this is evolution, not revolution. ISI is proposing that future inspections cover six areas. First up, inspection of a school’s governance, management and leadership. So far, so familiar.

But then the framework contains a further five aspects, each emphasising the importance of pupil wellbeing. These are based on the definitions of wellbeing in the Children’s Act 2004 and cover:

• Protection of pupils from harm and neglect.
• Pupils’ physical and mental health, and emotional wellbeing.
• Pupils’ education, training and recreation.
• Pupils’ contribution to society.
• Pupils’ social and economic wellbeing.

While schools will already be delivering much of what comes under these headings, judging them through the lens of pupil welfare feels really new. As educators, we know all too well the toll that two years of the pandemic have taken on young lives, not to mention widespread and growing concerns over the harmful effects of social media.

According to a recent study by STEER Education, the pandemic appears to have affected girls’ mental health much more severely than boys’: girls are now 33 per cent more likely to experience poor mental health compared with those of the same age before the pandemic.

Add to this the alarming evidence of Everyone’s Invited, and the shocking prevalence of sexual assault and abuse it revealed - more than 16,000 testimonies, naming almost 3,000 schools - and we are left with a potentially very fragile generation. A record number of children and young people are being treated for mental health problems - 420,000 in February 2022, the highest since records began.

And so it is right, and welcome, that ISI has recognised this in its proposed new framework and is putting pupil wellbeing at the heart of a school’s provision.

In fact, these changes sit neatly with the ISI values of “children first, diversity, integrity and transparency”.

Building on recent developments

Last autumn, ISI signalled this new focus when it introduced a range of measures to further strengthen inspection practice in relation to peer-on-peer sexual harassment and abuse.

In the light of Everyone’s Invited, and movements such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too, the update focused heavily on a school’s relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and wider safeguarding provision. 

Under the measures, single-sex group discussions were introduced to gauge the experiences of pupils, their views on how a school deals with incidents when they occur, and the support they are given during, and following, any investigation.

Safeguarding checks were made more rigorous and explicit evidence of pupils’ experience of sexual harassment or sexual violence came under greater scrutiny.

More broadly, there was a shift towards examining a school’s culture, openness and attitude to addressing issues.

The new framework appears to build on these measures.

The focus on school culture is taken further in the new proposals, where it is explicitly referenced in “three levels” - level three being the “hidden culture” of a school.

When considering this, inspectors will have to ask if the culture is one of “deep listening” and, most importantly, “noticing” - a shift which lays responsibility on all staff to be more than bystanders and to take swift action. 

Talent development

Also welcome is the introduction of “associate inspectors” - rising leaders who will be invited to join core inspection teams to gain insight and experience of what to expect. We have a huge retention crisis in our schools and the independent sector is not immune.

This is a helpful step towards encouraging our aspiring talent with new opportunities to learn and develop.

Communication and transparency are core to building trust, and the proposals’ emphasis on clear and accessible reports will be good news for parents.

The addition of “nuanced” findings, which will allow inspectors to reference exceptional practice and areas of concern, will also help give a truer reflection of a school’s provision and performance - and show trends and trajectories that parents, governors and others may wish to probe. And the move towards a single type of inspection will also help streamline a complex system.

Welcome and important changes 

While changes in inspection regimes are never popular, for the new responsibilities and compliance challenges they bring, these proposals have the potential to advance our schools.

They also have the potential to remind us that we are responsible for the overall wellbeing of the young people in our care, to encourage us to focus on this in everything we do, to prompt us to show leadership as we support students to grapple with the unique challenges they face and to galvanise us, as the adults in the room, to come forward with workable - not naive - solutions.

Libby Nicholas is a managing director at Dukes Education