Education in 2021/22: The national picture from Ofsted's perspective

Jason Bradbury, Ofsted

Through a period of national challenge Ofsted have continued a broad range of inspection and regulatory work; understanding the sector and taking action to ensure the safeguarding of children. Jason discusses what Ofsted have seen during the pandemic, the current situation, and Ofsted’s return to full inspection.

He will also cover how good data and insight remain critical in understanding what works, where there are differences and to inform policy, debate and decision making.

About the speaker

Jason is Ofsted’s Chief Statistician and Deputy Director, Data and Insight.  His team are responsible for drawing together data from multiple sources to support and inform Ofsted’s inspection and regulatory activity, acting as a force for improvement and safeguarding children.

Jason is also responsible for the analysis and publication of statistics to inform policy development and provide a window into our inspection and regulatory findings.

The story of the pandemic through data. What can we learn?

Katie Beynon and Natasha Plaister

A review of the top findings and insights from Datalab’s research over the last year. These presentations focus on two key areas: attendance and the attainment gap, and talk about what we’ve learnt about how the pandemic has impacted different groups of pupils.

Katie and Natasha also discuss cases where gaps in the data mean that they don’t know as much as they would like to.

About the speakers

Katie and Natasha are both statisticians at FFT Education Datalab. Katie’s main interests are equality and fairness in education, with a particular focus on the areas of curriculum, assessment and student outcomes.

Natasha’s research interests include post-16 subject choice and diversity and social mobility in education, particularly the inclusion of women in maths and science.

Measuring the impact of Covid-19 on pupils and schools around the world. How does the UK compare?

Hans H. Sievertsen, University of Bristol

This presentation provides an overview of school closures around the world since the start of the pandemic, covering where, when and how schools and children were most affected.

About the speaker

Hans H. Sievertsen is a senior lecturer at the School of Economics, University of Bristol. His main research interest is child development, with an emphasis on schooling and health.

Strategies for managing primary school attendance during the pandemic — What can we learn?

Davina Wakelin, Cavendish School, Eastbourne

With pupil attendance still some way below pre-pandemic levels, schools have had to work with their communities to get students back into the routine of day-to-day learning. In this session Davina explains how she and her colleagues worked together to support primary pupils in their return to school, and how the school will continue to put attendance at the forefront of their focus for promoting student well-being and raising achievement.

About the speaker

Davina has worked in schools for 19 years and has been at Cavendish School, Eastbourne for three years; two years as an Assistant Headteacher and now as Head of School. Davina oversees attendance and absolutely believes that all children must receive the best experience of school which includes delivering a rich curriculum and that attendance, at school, is of the utmost importance.

The mental health and wellbeing of teachers and pupils. What does the evidence show?

John Jerrim, Institute of Education

This presentation reviews the evidence on the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and pupils. How has the mental health of teachers changed over time? How does it compare to other professions? How has it been impacted by the pandemic?

The session also examines some of the latest evidence on the impact of national examinations on pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

About the speaker

John Jerrim is a research associate at FFT Education Datalab and a professor of education and social statistics at UCL Institute of Education. John’s research interests include the economics of education, access to higher education, intergenerational mobility, cross-national comparisons and educational inequalities.

Strategies for managing secondary school attendance during the pandemic — What can we learn?

Dave Kilby, Cavendish School, Eastbourne

With pupil attendance still some way below pre-pandemic levels, schools have had to work with their communities to get students back into the routine of day-to-day learning. In this session Dave explains how he and his colleagues worked together to support secondary students in their return to school, and how the school will continue to put attendance at the forefront of their focus for promoting student well-being and raising achievement.

About the speaker

Dave has been an Assistant Headteacher at Cavendish School, Eastbourne for 2 years and has worked in schools for 11 years. He leads on Personal Development, overseeing attendance, safeguarding and pastoral care, and continues to teach Maths. He is passionate about providing the best experience and support for his pupils, and firmly believes that this centres around attendance at school.

Understanding the impact of 'live instruction' at home. What do the shared experiences of teachers and parents tell us?

Becky Allen, Teacher Tapp

During the 2021 Spring lockdown, around half of primary schools offered daily live instruction to children at home. Teacher Tapp monitored the experiences of parents and teachers via daily survey questions. This presentation shows how the experience of live instruction affected parental perceptions of time spent learning, their child’s motivation and their own well-being.

About the speaker

Becky Allen is Chief Analyst and co-founder of Teacher Tapp, the largest teacher survey and professional development tool in the UK. She is also a Professor of Education at the University of Brighton. As an academic, she is known for her research into school accountability, effectiveness, assessment and teacher careers. In 2018, she chaired a Government working group to review how data is used in schools.

Supporting schools during the pandemic — What can we learn? A Trust perspective.

Andrew Daly, CMAT (Trust)

Over the last two years, MAT leaders have worked to ensure that their schools are fully supported and able to meet the challenges that the pandemic has brought. In this session Andrew explains how he and his colleagues have used a range of methods to monitor and improve attendance during the pandemic. He also discusses how assessment and the power of collaboration have helped to drive their student support and intervention programmes.

About the speaker

As an Executive Principal for Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust, Andy leads on secondary achievement and curriculum development and oversees a number of CMAT secondary schools. Andy was previously Principal of the ‘Outstanding’ Swavesey Village College from 2013-2018. With a background in PE teaching, Andy has wealth of expertise in school improvement and strategies for raising achievement.

Getting the most out of FFT Attendance Tracker

Sean Green

FFT’s Attendance Tracker now provides weekly attendance reports to nearly 9,000 schools. This presentation will take you through the suite of school and pupil reports available, showing how schools can get the most out of the system in order to successfully track, monitor and compare themselves against the latest weekly national attendance data.

The session also looks at FFT’s latest ‘360 Attendance’ report and how it can be used most effectively for SLT and governor meetings.

About the speaker

Sean is a Product Manager for FFT with responsibility for Attendance Tracker. He has worked for FFT for four years and has also delivered training on a range of topics. Prior to this he led a successful sixth form and was Deputy Head in a large comprehensive school for ten years.

Supporting schools during the pandemic — What can we learn? An LA perspective.

Dave Hollomby, Wirral LA

Local Authorities have had to react rapidly to the needs of their schools and students in the fast-changing educational landscape of the past two years. In this session, Dave reflects on the challenges of the pandemic from a LA perspective and explains how the LA’s future planning will be influenced by the impact of it. He focuses on how the LA worked with schools to ensure that they are using estimates and targets effectively in order to maximise potential and opportunity for all students.

About the speaker

Dave has worked at Wirral Local Authority for 20 years as a School Improvement Adviser and Data Analyst. His main focus is on supporting schools to close the attainment gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers. Prior to working for Wirral, Dave taught in secondary schools in Liverpool and Knowsley.

Where next?

Unpacking the real impact of Covid-19 on our pupils, teachers and schools

Thank you to everyone who attended this FFT Datalab conference on 24 March 2022. You can access all the conference videos, slides and materials below.

#FFTCONF22

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About the conference

Any questions? Please contact: fftconf22@fft.org.uk

Conference materials

Keynote · Education in 2021/22: The national picture from Ofsted's perspective

Jason Bradbury, Ofsted

The story of the pandemic through data. What can we learn?

Katie Beynon & Natasha Plaister, FFT Education Datalab

Measuring the impact of Covid-19 on pupils and schools around the world. How does the UK compare?

Dr Hans H. Sievertsen, University of Bristol

Strategies for managing primary school attendance during the pandemic — What can we learn?

Davina Wakelin, Cavendish School, Eastbourne

The mental health and wellbeing of teachers and pupils. What does the evidence show?

Professor John Jerrim, Institute of Education

Strategies for managing secondary school attendance during the pandemic — What can we learn?

Dave Kilby, Cavendish School, Eastbourne

Understanding the impact of 'live instruction' at home. What do the shared experiences of teachers and parents tell us?

Professor Becky Allen, Teacher Tapp

Supporting schools during the pandemic — what can we learn? A Trust perspective.

Andrew Daly, CMAT (Trust)

Monitoring, tracking and comparing attendance data. How to get the most out of FFT Attendance Tracker.

Sean Green, FFT

Supporting schools during the pandemic — what can we learn? An LA perspective.

Dave Hollomby, Wirral LA

Panel discussion about the impact of Covid-19, what we've learned, and some suggestions on where to go next.

Paul Charman, Jason Bradbury, Natasha Plaister, John Jerrim, Becky Allen and Davina Wakelin

More FFT videos

Explore FFT's other videos on Tutoring, Phonics, Aspire and more

More from FFT Education Datalab

Independent, cutting-edge research on education policy and practice

#FFTCONF22

Meet the speakers

Jason Bradbury

Rebecca Allen

John Jerrim

Dr Hans Sievertsen

Sean Green

Dave Hollomby

Where
next?

Thank you to everyone who attended this FFT Datalab conference on 24 March 2022.

You can access all the conference videos, slides and materials below.