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. It contains four comprehensive templates:

 

1. Secondary English and Drama Deep Dive and Subject Evaluation Audit - over 100 deep dive questions about English and Drama to ask stakeholders, including senior leaders, subject/department leaders, teachers and pupils. As Drama or English department lead, you can utilise these to reflect on the current picture of English and Drama in your school and explore specific areas, such as reading, writing, spoken language, grammar, linguistics and performance. Many English / Drama leads find it useful to practise them with other leaders to build their own confidence in preparation for a English Ofsted deep dive.

 

2. Secondary English and Drama Subject Knowledge Question Bank - content-specific questions for English and Drama covering KS3 and KS4. They’re ideal if you’re wanting to explore the finer details of staff members' English or Drama subject knowledge.

 

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

 

4. Deep Dive Evidence Exploration - a handy place to collate all your observation notes when conducting a deep dive, including observing English lessons or Drama sessions, asking pupils about their learning in English and Drama, and looking through any English work, drama performance recording or other evidence.

 

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 English and Drama?

The answer to this will depend on your setting and what an observer sees in practice, but here are some examples of the questions covered in this Drama and Secondary English Deep Dive pack:

 

• Tell me how you ensure that pupils have the underpinning linguistic and vocabulary knowledge they need.
• How does your English curriculum draw upon knowledge acquired through studying a broad range of subjects and from being exposed to a wide range of books?
• Do pupils compose writing in different forms/genres/styles and for a range of purposes/audiences?
• In key stage 3, are pupils studying a wide enough range of literature (genre/form/heritage/world literature etc.)? Or do they only read GCSE texts (current and past)?
• How does your curriculum bridge the divide between the perceived artist (playwright) and the interpreter of the art (performer)?

 

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

 

Who? 

English or Drama department leaders, especially those who are new  subject leads or those who are second in department, will find this pack extremely useful when monitoring teaching and learning, or if preparing for an Ofsted deep dive in English or Drama. 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 Drama and English leader to prepare for an Ofsted inspection.

 

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 deep dive in English.

 

When? 

If you’re a new department leader, a second in department or you’ve never gone through a deep dive 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 an English or Drama deep dive. Even if you're a more experienced subject leader, it can be useful to revisit your English 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 English, Drama and Performing Arts curriculum.

Why? 

Knowing you may have to go through an inspection with a focus on English or Drama can cause feelings of stress, anxiety and worry, especially if you’re thinking about what questions Ofsted could ask about writing, reading, spoken language or performance 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 English and Drama 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 your subject and knowing its strengths and weaknesses so you can get excellent 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.

 

Key questions answered:

• What is a deep dive?

• What is the purpose of Ofsted’s deep dives into areas of your curriculum?

• What does an Ofsted deep dive look like?

• Why might I want to conduct my own internal deep dive?

• Who should I involve in an internal deep dive?