Making sure your school website is Oftsed compliant

Compiled by Al Kingsley @AlKingsley_edu

Keeping your school website compliant with the latest requirements can be hard work, but its something that has to be done, both to meet Ofsted guidelines, ensure parental access and to make sure, as your “shop window” that pre-inspection, Ofsted get a sense ( alongside your performance data) of what your school is all about.

Below are the main items you need to ensure are covered on your website :

  • Name of your school or college.
  • Name of the member of staff who deals with queries from parents and other members of the public.
  • Postal Address of your school or college
  • Name of the headteacher or principal
  • Telephone number of your school or college
  • Name and address of the chair of the governing body (if you have one)
  • Name and details of your SEN co-ordinator (SENCO) if you’re a mainstream school
  • Academies or Free Schools should also publish Trust / Owner details.

If the school’s governing body decides your admissions, you must publish your school’s admission arrangements each year and keep them up for the whole school year.

You must cover :

  • How you will consider applications for every age group
  • What parents should do if they want to apply for their child to attend your school
  • Your arrangements for selecting the pupils who apply
  • Your ‘over-subscription criteria’ (how you offer places if there are more applicants than places)
  • Publish a copy of your school’s or college’s most recent Ofsted report
  • Publish a link to the web-page where users can find your school’s most recent Ofsted report

Requirements for Key Stage 2 (KS2)

Performance tables published in December

  • Percentage of pupils who’ve achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.
  • You must publish the following details from your school’s most recent key stage 2 results:
  • Average progress that pupils have made in reading between KS1 and KS2
  • Percentage of pupils who’ve achieved a higher standard in reading, writing and maths
  • Average progress that pupils have made in writing between KS1 and KS2
  • Your pupils’ average score in the reading test
  • Average progress that pupils have made in maths between KS1 and KS2
  • Your pupils’ average score in the maths test

 

Requirements for Key Stage 4 (KS4)

Performance Tables Published in January

  • You must publish the following details from your school’s most recent key stage 4 results:
  • Your school’s progress 8 score
  • Your school’s attainment 8 score
  • Percentage of pupils who’ve achieved grade 5 or above in English and mathematics at the end of KS4
  • Percentage of pupils who’ve achieved the English Baccalaureate Academies and Free Schools
  • Percentage of pupils entering for the English Baccalaureate
  • Student ‘destinations’ (the percentage of students who continue in education or training, or move on to employment at the end of 16 to 19 study)

Requirements for Key Stage 5 (KS5)

Performance Tables Published in January & March [Previously Required, Now Recommended]

  • You should publish the following details from your school’s most recent key stage 5 results:
  • The progress your students have made compared with students across the country.
  • The average grade that students in your college get at KS5.
  • The progress students in your college have made in English and maths
  • Retention (this is the proportion of students who get to the end of the main programme of study that they enrolled on at your institution)
  • Destinations (this is the percentage of students who continue in education or training, or move on to employment at the end of 16 to 19 study)

You must include a link to the school and college performance tables and your school’s performance tables page.

Curriculum requirements

The content of the curriculum your school follows in each academic year for every subject, including for mandatory subjects such as Religious Education even if it’s taught as part of another subject or subjects or is called something else

How parents or other members of the public can find out more about the curriculum your school is following

Phase specific requirements

  • The names of any phonics or reading schemes you are using in Key Stage 1
  • A  list of the courses available to pupils at key stage 4, including GCSEs
  • The 16 to 19 qualifications you offer
  • How you meet the 16 to 19 study programme requirements (if you have a sixth-form or offer education at 16 to 19)

Publish details of your school’s behaviour policy. ( incl Anti-Bullying strategy)

Pupil Premium Requirements

For the current academic year:

  • How much pupil premium funding you received for this academic year
  • Details of the main barriers to educational achievement that the disadvantaged children in your school face
  • How you will spend your pupil premium funding to address these barriers and the reasons for the approach you’ve chosen
  • How you will measure the impact of the pupil premium
  • The date of the next pupil premium strategy review


For the previous academic year:

  • How you spent your pupil premium funding
  • The impact that the pupil premium had on pupils

Year 7 Literacy and Numeracy Catchup premium ( if applicable)

  • How much year 7 catch-up premium funding you received for this academic year
  • Details of how you intend to spend the funding
  • Details of how you spent your year 7 catch-up premium last academic year
  • How it made a difference to the attainment of the pupils who attract the funding

    Academies & Free Schools also need to share :
  • How much year 7 catch-up premium you received for this financial year
  • Details of how you intend to spend the funding
  • Details of how you spent your year 7 catch-up premium last financial year
  • How it made a difference to the attainment of the pupils who attract the funding and how you assessed the effect it had.

PE and Sport Premium details and spend

Special Educational Needs and Disability information ( SEND)

  • The arrangements for the admission of disabled pupils
  • The steps you have taken to prevent disabled pupils from being treated less favourably than other pupils
  • The facilities you provide to help disabled pupils to access the school
  • Information as to the plan prepared by the governing body or proprietor under paragraph 3 of schedule 10 to the Equality Act 2010 for :
  • Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school’s curriculum
  • Improving the physical environment of the school for the purpose of increasing the extent to which disabled pupils are able to take advantage of education and benefits, facilities and services provided or offered by the school
  • Improving the delivery to disabled pupils of information which is readily accessible to pupils who are not disabled

Governor Information and Duties

The structure and remit of the governing body and any committees, and the full names of the chair of each;

Maintained Schools 
For each governor who has served at any point over the past 12 months:

  • Their full names, date of appointment, term of office, date they stepped down (where applicable), who appointed them.
  • Relevant business and pecuniary interests (as recorded in the register of interests) including governance roles in other educational institutions.
  • Any material interests arising from relationships between governors or relationships between governors and school staff (including spouses, partners and close relatives)
  • Their attendance record at governing body and committee meetings over the last academic year
  • Governing bodies should also publish this information for associate members, making clear whether they have voting rights on any of the committees to which they have been appointed.

Academies and Free Schools

  • The structure and remit of the members, board of trustees, its committees and local governing bodies, and the full names of the chair of each
  • For each member who has served at any point over the past 12 months:
  • Their full names, date of appointment, date they stepped down (where applicable), and relevant business and pecuniary interests including governance roles in other educational institutionsFor each trustee who has served at any point over the past 12 months:
  • Their full names, date of appointment, term of office, date they stepped down (where applicable), who appointed them, and relevant business and pecuniary interests including governance roles in other educational institutions

    For each trustee who has served at any point over the past 12 months:
  • Their attendance records at board and committee meetings over the last academic year
    For each local governor who has served at any point over the past 12 months:
  • Their full names, date of appointment, term of office, date they stepped down (where applicable), who appointed them, and relevant business and pecuniary interests including governance roles in other educational institutions.

Charging and Remissions Policies

Statement of Values and Ethos

Details of how a parent can request paper copies of any relevant content on the website.

Equality Objectives

  • Publish details of how your school is complying with the public sector equality duty – you should update this every year
  • Publish your school’s equality objectives – you should update this at least once every 4 years

    Include details of how your school is:
  • Eliminating discrimination (see the Equalities Act 2010)
  • Improving equality of opportunity for people with protected characteristics
  • Consulting and involving those affected by inequality in the decisions your school or college takes to promote equality and eliminate discrimination (affected people could include parents, pupils, staff and members of the local community)

Complaints

Maintained Schools

  • You must publish details of your school’s complaints procedure, which must comply with Section 29 of the Education Act 2002.

    Academies and Colleges
  • All academies and colleges should publish their complaints policy online.
    If you’re an academy, free school, FE or sixth-form college, you should also publish your whistleblowing policy online.

    Maintained Schools, Academies and Free Schools
  • Publish any arrangements for handling complaints from parents of children with special educational needs (SEN) about the support the school provides.


Publish details of your policy for excluding pupils.

Annual Accounts

  • Academies & Free Schools 
  • Annual report
  • Annual audited accounts
  • Memorandum of association
  • Articles of association
  • Names of charity trustees and members
  • Funding agreementFE & Sixth Form Colleges
  • Colleges should publish their instruments and articles of government on their website.
  • They should also publish their annual members’ report and audited financial statement every year.

Careers

  • The name, email address and telephone number of the school’s Careers Leader
  • A summary of the careers programme, including details of how pupils, parents, teachers and employers may access information about the careers programme. In a way that enables pupils, parents, teachers and employers to access and understand it.
  • How the school measures and assesses the impact of the careers programme on pupils
  • The date of the school’s next review of the information published.

Provider Access Policy Statement
Schools should review their arrangements for provider access and must set out those arrangements in a policy statement. The school may revise the policy statement from time to time and we recommend that this is done annually. The policy statement must be published and should be made available on the school website. The purpose of the statement is to set out opportunities for providers to visit and to explain how requests from providers will be handled. The policy statement must include:

  • Any procedural requirements in relation to requests for access e.g. the main point of contact at the school to whom requests should be directed;
  • Grounds for granting and refusing requests for access e.g. details of timetabled careers lessons, assemblies or careers events which providers may attend; and should include the safeguarding policy;
  • Details of premises or facilities to be provided to a person who is given access e.g. rooms and resources to be made available in support of a provider visit.

Safeguarding

  • Pre-inspection planning will be informed by analysis of information on the school’s website including the presence and suitability of the safeguarding guidance
    Include suitable safeguarding guidance on your school website.
  • Individual schools and colleges should ensure they have an effective child protection policy.

 

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