What? 

A bundle pack containing guidance of what an Ofsted deep dive entails and how you can utilise a similar internal process in your own subject monitoring.

 

Please note that when we use the terms ‘PSHE’ (personal, social, health and economic), ‘RHE’ (relationships and health education) and 'RSE' (relationships and sex education) in this description and in this bundle, we're referring to any education that your setting might deliver under the DfE guidance on PSHE and Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education, some of which will be statutory or non-statutory depending on your setting and age range. You may also find that spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) teaching, some social and emotional learning (SEL) and aspects of personal development fall under this deep dive audit bundle too. It contains five comprehensive templates:

 

1. PSHE and Relationships Education and Health Education (RHE) Deep Dive and Subject Evaluation Audit (Primary) - over 100 deep dive questions covering PSHE, relationships education and health education at a primary level to ask stakeholders, including senior leaders, subject leaders, teachers and pupils. As PSHE subject leader or staff member with responsibility for personal development, you can utilise these to reflect on the current picture of PSHE and/or RHE in your school and explore specific areas further when listening to staff and pupil voice. These can be useful to practise with other leaders to build confidence in preparation for a PSHE or RSE Ofsted deep dive or when Ofsted carry out 'shallow paddles'. 

 

2. PSHE, and Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education (RSHE) Deep Dive and Subject Evaluation Audit (Secondary) - KS3, KS4 and KS5 PSHE and RSE deep dive questions for secondary leaders to consider. While there is crossover with the primary set of deep dive questions, this resource has a deeper focus on relationships and sex education (RSE), such as healthy relationships and consent, sexual relationships and other areas of personal and social development that teenagers may encounter.

 

3. PSHE, Relationships, RSE and Health Education Subject Knowledge Question Bank - content-specific questions for PSHE, RSE and health education. They’re ideal if you’re wanting to explore the finer details of staff members' subject knowledge in this area.

 

4. Deep Dive Process Overview - use this to structure your internal deep dive or shallow dive in PSHE, working through the process of identifying your perceived strengths and weaknesses, observation and questioning, and creating a plan of action. 

 

5. Deep Dive Evidence Exploration - a handy place to collate all your observation notes when conducting a deep dive, including observing RSE/RSHE sessions and asking pupils about their learning in PSHE.

 

Whether you have an Ofsted inspection due or not, conducting an internal deep dive can help you to identify your subject’s strengths and weaknesses. Use it as a collaborative process that can support other staff members to develop and use your findings to report back to SLT, governors or trustees as part of your curriculum quality assurance. 

 

What sorts of deep dive questions will Ofsted ask in PSHE, RSHE, or RSE?

Ofsted may not conduct a full deep dive in PSHE, RSE or RHE but they may speak to school leaders about how the school's teaching of these subjects supports pupil's personal development, which is an area of the EIF that schools are graded on. With that in mind, some of the questions included are: 

 

• How is safeguarding integrated into the PSHE and RSE curriculum?
• How does your PSHE provision address issues of diversity, inclusion and equality?
• What do you teach pupils about careers, career paths and financial choices?
• How does your RSHE curriculum give pupils the information they need to help them develop healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds, not just intimate relationships?
• What strategies do you use to make PSHE content culturally sensitive and relevant?

 

There are many more in the bundle that PSHE and RSHE leads can work through to ensure they know their subject's strengths and weaknesses. 

 

Who? 

Anyone with responsibility for PSHE, RSE, health education or pupil's personal development will find this pack extremely useful when monitoring teaching and learning, or if preparing for an Ofsted deep dive. Curriculum leaders, senior leaders or headteachers will also find the pack beneficial, whether they use it to conduct a deep dive themselves or support their PSHE or pastoral leader to prepare for an Ofsted inspection, especially when considering personal development in the curriculum. The deep dive questions are particularly useful in reflecting on your setting's current practice.

 

How long? 

Start as soon as you download the pack, and use it as part of your monitoring and evaluation schedule or to build confidence about a shallow dive, shallow paddle or deep dive in PSHE, RSE or RHE.

 

When? 

If you’re a new subject leader or you’ve never gone through a deep dive or shallow paddle process (either internal or conducted by Ofsted) before, this pack will walk you through the steps of what this looks like in practice and what questions you could be asked in a RSE or PSHE deep dive. Even if you're a more experienced subject leader, it can be useful to revisit your PSHE curriculum's intent, implementation and impact as a form of monitoring and quality assurance, and this deep dive pack is perfect for that. Either way, you don’t have to wait to be due an Ofsted inspection to use the pack - it’s useful at any time to explore the strengths and weaknesses of your PSHE, RSHE and RSE curriculum.

Why? 

Knowing you may have to go through an inspection with a focus on PSHE or RSE can cause feelings of stress, anxiety and worry, especially if you’re thinking about what questions Ofsted could ask about PSHE and how you’ll answer. This pack supports that thinking process, especially if you work alongside other leaders to consider what makes great teaching and learning in RSE and RSHE and how your school does or doesn’t do this. 

 

However, it’s not just about preparing for an Ofsted inspection or doing things because Ofsted might want to see them - it’s about understanding the picture of PSHE/RSHE/RSE and knowing its strengths and weaknesses so you can get amazing outcomes for all of your pupils. It’s also important to know that even if you conduct an internal deep dive and find there are gaps, you can use this to formulate your next steps in an action plan, which will help to ensure improvement for all.