Say Who You Are

In addition to Ofsted intrusions, Catholic schools and other religious schools, endure their own peculiar form of inspection. They must measure up to whatever criteria their faith or Church leaders determine makes their type of school unique.

Like their non-religious counterpart, these reports are beset with difficulties about the standard of writing and the quality of the content.

For instance, here is an example of an opening paragraph in a key section of a Catholic school inspection report. Can you identify from this paragraph if the school is a primary or a secondary school?

“The mission of the school, ‘Following in the footsteps of Jesus we love, live and learn together’ is embraced by all members of the community. There is a noticeably warm welcome which is reflected in the school’s recent accreditation of the ‘School of Sanctuary’ award. Pupils can express that they are valued and understand that they should value each other. They are proud of how they welcome new pupils into the school and are starting to link their learning to the key principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Pupils’ behaviour in all classes is based on respect for staff and for each other. There are a number of opportunities for pupils to take on leadership roles, including altar serving, reading, being a member of the Mini Vinnies, the Chaplaincy team or a Champion of Christ. Older pupils are ‘faith friends’ with younger pupils which leads to strong bonds and wider opportunities for moral and spiritual growth.”

Faced with the requirements that any inspection should reflect the unique character of the school, failure to identify the school setting might be considered a hindrance.

When it comes to language fumbles, religious school reports concede nothing to their Ofsted counterparts. For instance, take the simple phrase “mission of the school” mentioned in the quote. It is a key phrase in the inspection criteria for a Catholic school.

The word as interpreted by the Catholic Schools Inspectorate refers primarily to the school’s “educational mission”.

The Birmingham diocese has dictated that all their schools will be grouped in Academy clusters. Part of the rationale behind that order is that all Catholic schools are part of the Church’s mission of preaching the gospel. While fulfilling its educational mission each school is at the same time required to meet its obligation to be part of the “gospel mission” of the diocese.

A naïve reader might expect that both of these aspects of “mission” would appear. Or, at the very least the diocese might get mentioned here or there.

Almost all the Birmingham schools reported on so far make no mention of any link with the diocese or any connection with the diocesan “gospel mission”. It is as if Captain Kirk, beamed down to an alien planet, ignored any contact with the Starship Enterprise. 

It is not your fault as a lay reader if you do not understand some of the references to activities, such as Mini Vinnies, or Champion of Christ or other agencies well known in Catholic school circles, if those are the circles in which you do not move. They are never explained in the reports. A phrase describing the essence of these activities would make a huge difference to the readers understanding of what is being evaluated.

You might expect that the criteria laid down in the framework for inspection will be used meticulously by the inspectors.

Not so.

In the report quoted above three of the six criteria to be used in evaluating the impact on pupils aren’t addressed. It is not uncommon for a hit of less than 50% on all the criteria listed. Such a low hit rate weakens the claim that the school has experienced a comprehensive and thorough evaluation that shows it in its true brilliance.

A key requirement in any inspection report, no matter which platform of inspection is being used, and there are several, is that the report will be peopled mainly with judgements. In fact, each criterion for the inspection of Catholic schools listed asks the inspectors to judge “how well...”. or “to what extent...’

Doesn’t that tell you judgments are called for?

Descriptions are meant only to be used to give colour to the judgment and make it come alive, so that the reader can visualise the events being judged. In our example quoted above, there are seven sentences in the paragraph. How many meet the criteria directive “to what extent …”?

Writing “Pupils can express that they are valued and understand that they should value each other” is a warm and wonderful description. It would be a judgment had the writer added “… express clearly” or “... have a deep and well-developed understanding of …”.

A list of warm descriptions instead of evaluative judgments is hardly a robust critique of a learning community where students begin their life journey, with a variety of teachers and staff, using a range of skills and activities, engaged in time-sequenced complex events, adjusted with a flexibility that would do credit to a Nassau space launch. 

It might not be rocket science, but saying who you are says more about you than words can say.

(c) Ted Dunphy

13.01.2024