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Ofsted inspections were suspended, again leaving parents in a state of uncertainty as to whether ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools still deserved their rating and, similarly, whether schools that weren’t cutting the mustard had improved beyond all recognition. Schools that looked spectacularly wonderful or dismal in comparison with others in their area might have changed for better or worse in the past two years – but there was no way of knowing. As school inspections resume, the signs are very positive. If your local school was rated ‘requires improvement’ or – even worse – ‘inadequate’, there’s a strong chance that it’s doing better than before. According to Ofsted, of the 1,600 schools inspected between September 2021 and June this year, seven in ten of those judged that had previously fallen short of at least a ‘good’ rating have now improved – a higher percentage than before the pandemic. Parents will also be very conscious of what their child may have missed during the pandemic years and will rightly want to know what the school can offer to help. Some of it comes down to basic issues like staffing – recruitment was already challenging before the pandemic. You’ll
20 AUTUMN/WINTER 2022
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