Why are there changes to Ofsted
When headteacher Ruth Perry committed suicide in 2023 the coroner noted that the single word judgement about the school she led - “inadequate” - contributed to her death. Although Ofsted has not openly said that their review of their current inspection system was a direct response to this tragic event, they have made important steps to significantly shift how inspections are completed.
The case for change has included the recognition of many burdens placed on early years education providers, which includes private day nurseries, schools, maintained nurseries and child minders. The outgoing Ofsted inspection system has been highly criticised for placing immense pressure on education professionals, contributing to stress and mental health problems [1,2]. This system which gave out single-word judgments was seen as providing insufficient detail to parents about the quality of a setting, making it difficult for them to understand a settings strengths, weaknesses and areas for development.
“We are putting children first – making fair changes with
empathy but without losing our purpose as an inspectorate”
Ofsted 2025
As dance artists who work in settings (or who don’t currently but might want to) there are a number of important differences to the new system it’s helpful for us to understand.
Learning about the revised Ofsted grading system can help us approach early years settings using appropriate language, it can help us understand what goals a setting has in place and what values should be at the heart of the work we do.
In this blog, I have outlined some key aspects of the new framework that I think you need to know including, one important aspect that is uniquely relevant to dance and dancers, and, have shared some thoughts on how we can respond to it in a timely and professional manner.
What do I need to know about what has changed
Ofsted inspections have currently paused while settings understand and implement any required changes and inspections will recommence in November. Instead of judgements, each setting will receive a report card with “grades” not judgements and, this shift in terminology Ofsted say, will allow for a more nuanced assessment.
It will be helpful to not have language which, to some, feels more aligned verdicts or punishment (think judgements in court).
The current grade areas are:
- Urgent Improvement
- Needs Attention
- Expected Standard
- Strong Standard
- Exceptional.
The six revised areas to which grading will be applied are:
- Inclusion
- Curriculum and teaching
- Achievement
- Attendance and behaviour
- Personal development and well-being
- Leadership and governance.
Ofsted have clearly communicated that inclusion is a core focus of every inspection and in order to be exceptional, settings need to demonstrate how they are addressing barriers to learning for all children but especially for those children with SEND or living with complexity.
How can we respond to the new emphasis on inclusion
Dance artists can support settings to develop outstanding practice in inclusion by helping them to meet the new inclusion standards, through their work. Rightly, Ofsted say they want settings to be making a demonstrable and sustained difference to the experiences of and opportunities for vulnerable children, those with SEND and additional needs. They want early years settings to have a transformational impact on children’s individual learning experience and to have a personalised approach.
“If we get it right for the vulnerable, we get it right for everyone.”
Jude Simpson Ofsted, Sept 2025
Dance and movement, as a non-verbal artform, can significantly:
- Reduce barriers to involvement
- Enhance well being
- Model outstanding adaptations for personalised learning, which can be skilfully created and implemented.
How can I respond to inclusion in practical ways
Create a SEND or inclusion statement or statement about your approach. You can revisit the People Dancing values and professional code of conduct [3] to create a statement to send to your setting about how you work. Send it to people you know to sense check it.
Understand the pressures of running a nursery. This short blog [4] from the government outlines some of the challenges facing early years settings identified in 2024.
View the Ofsted report of a setting before you visit. Knowing where their strengths lie and what areas they are working on can enhance your working relationship with them (YO add - which encourages a partnership approach to working creatively, which in turn embeds a dance/movement offer sustainably)?
Understand the demographics of a setting in order to recognise the contexts they are working in. You can use Nomis [5] to put in the post code which can support you to understand ethnic backgrounds, household languages and economic activity.
You can ask staff sensitively about challenges the setting faces when you arrive.
Consider the well-being of early years professionals when you go into a setting. Connect with the staff and ask them about their work and their challenges.
Sign up to receive information from People Dancing’s Early Years and Inclusion in Dance newsletters [6] (if not already signed up!)
Where can I find out more
There is an inspection framework toolkit here [7] This toolkit sets out the areas that will be evaluated and graded on inspections of registered early years and childcare provision.
Liz Clark, People Dancing’s Associate Artist for dance with babies, young children and families.
Info
- To learn more about Liz Clark, please visit
turnedonitshead.org
- Image credit: Liz Clark, Delighted by Dance.
References
- Rethinking School Inspection
Delivering fair, proportionate and humane school accountability
NAHT
www.naht.org.uk/Portals/0/PDF%27s/Reports/NAHT-Ofsted-report_Jan_2024_FINAL_REPORT_.pdf?ver=2024-01-16-172409-693
- Independent wellbeing impact assessment of the revised Ofsted framework, July 2025, Sinéad McBrearty, CEO, Education Support
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68b8762fcc8356c3c882aa4c/Independent_wellbeing_impact_assessment_of_the_revised_Ofsted_framework.pdf
- People Dancing Professional Code of Conduct
www.communitydance.org.uk/membership-and-insurance/professional-code-of-conduct
- Maintaining quality early years provision in the face of workforce challenges
earlyyears.blog.gov.uk/2024/05/13/maintaining-quality-early-years-provision-in-the-face-of-workforce-challenges
- Nomis official census and labour market statistics
www.nomisweb.co.uk
- Receiving information from People Dancing
- Early Years Inspection Toolkit
OFSTED
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68c15c7f8c6d992f23edd81a/Early_years_inspection_toolkit.pdf