At Happy-Centred Schools, we’re not big fans of ‘the O word’.  

But whether we like it or not, the reality of the situation is that Ofsted continue to do their thing and, when you’re ‘in the window’, there’s additional pressure on leaders and their teams. 

The introduction of a new reporting process, the removal of a one-word judgement, Monday morning only phone calls and no more deep dives have been seen as positive steps in the right direction.  

However, senior leaders continue to worry about the impact of an impending inspection on their own and their team’s mental health and wellbeing, which is one of the reasons that all our facilitators were fully booked for September INSETs. 

Sarah Creegan, who was ‘O’ed many times during her teaching career, had the pleasure of working in a school where they are waiting for ‘the call’. They are prepared, confident and, dare we say it, even looking forward to the visit, so that they can showcase the fantastic work that they do.  

And, for Stamford Green Primary, their fantastic work very much focuses on looking after their people. Leaders recognise that life, in general, alongside working in a school environment, can be challenging, so they wanted to kick off the academic year by supporting their whole team: teachers, teaching and non-teaching support staff, to have the tools to cope and be as resilient as possible. 

 The 3 hour FLIP It Thinking session flew by, with lots of: 

• Opportunities to chat and share thoughts and experiences 
• Practical tips to slow any wonky, irrational thinking down  
• Ways to feel less ‘done unto’ and become more solution focused 
• Support to understand how people can make new, healthier habits 

Although this session wasn’t specifically planned with Ofsted in mind, people recognised the relevance of FLIP in out-of-the-ordinary, potentially stressful situations. 

With the whole team in the room, everyone committed to making at least one small change that will improve their own wellbeing, as well as thinking of ways that they can kindly challenge each other, when they spot any unhelpful language, thinking and behaviours. 

Feedback included comments such as: 

‘Thank you – it was very uplifting and helpful. It made me think about tweaks that I can make to proactively manage the more stressful aspects of the job. Loved your positive and down-to-earth manner.’ 

‘Amazing session! Thank you. Very informative, funny, important and effective in making me control and FLIP my thinking.’  

‘It was exceptional and everyone was talking about something they had taken away for days after the event.’ 

Sarah is back in January to see how people have been doing and to follow up with some Menopause Awareness training. In the meantime, the whole of the Happy-Centred Schools team would like to wish everyone at Stamford Green the very best during their inspection. We know you’ll be FLIPPING marvellous! 

If you’d like to FLIP your school’s thinking, get in touch with Doug – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - to find out more.