A few weeks, before the summer break, I did a two-day course called “Leading Primary Computing” - exciting stuff because it touched on the new “Teach Computing” curriculum that Aldwyn Primary School is introducing over the next year. More about the Tech Computing curriculum in another blog.
What was interesting is that almost everyone on the course knew a school that has had a recent Ofsted inspection, and at every single one the inspector had conducted an computing deep dive.
Briefly, inspectors wanted to see how IT was being used throughout the school, lesson plans, proof of work etc. They wanted to see clear cross-curriculum activities and how IT was used throughout the curriculum - not just coding. They also wanted to see proof that the home learning system was being used, they wanted to see work that was available for children to complete at home and they wanted to see evidence of children using it.
So, it looks like the DfE and Ofsted are doing what they said they would do when Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams were introduced during the lockdown. That is - using the home learning system, or not, as the case maybe, will count towards your Ofsted rating.