Imagine, if you will, the moment when a parent first glimpses an Ofsted report. For years, that report has been distilled into a single word—“Outstanding,” “Good,” “Requires Improvement,” “Inadequate.” This word would hold the power to shape perceptions, to define the narrative of a school’s effectiveness, and to chart the course of children’s futures. But what if that single word, in all its simplicity, was hiding more than it revealed?

The new School Report Card system is about peeling back that layer of simplicity and exposing the complex, nuanced reality beneath. It’s about moving beyond a world where schools are judged by a single headline, to a new paradigm where performance is dissected, understood, and acted upon with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel.

In this new system, schools are no longer reduced to a solitary adjective. Instead, they are evaluated across a spectrum of categories—each one illuminating a different facet of the school’s performance. Think of it as the difference between a single brushstroke and a full painting. The categories—Quality of Education, Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, and Leadership & Management—are not just labels; they are lenses through which the true character of a school is brought into focus.

But what’s truly revolutionary about this shift is not just the granularity of the assessment. It’s the transparency. For too long, parents have been left to interpret those single-word judgments like oracles deciphering ancient runes. Now, they will have a map—a detailed, multifaceted guide to understanding how a school performs across the board. This is not just information; it’s empowerment. Parents can now see where a school excels and where it needs to improve, and they can do so in a way that is clear, precise, and actionable.

Yet, the change goes deeper still. The School Report Card system isn’t just about identifying problems; it’s about solving them. Enter the Regional Improvement Teams, the cavalry riding in not to chastise but to support. Their mission is to work with schools, not against them, providing the expertise and resources needed to turn weaknesses into strengths. This approach is more than just kinder—it’s smarter. It recognises that improvement is not a product of pressure alone but of support, guidance, and collaboration.

The introduction of this system is not a sudden upheaval but a carefully orchestrated transformation. It begins now, with more detailed inspection reports, gradually building towards the full implementation of the School Report Cards in 2025. It’s a phased approach that ensures schools and parents alike can adapt, learn, and grow with the system.

In the end, this shift is about rethinking what it means to assess a school’s worth. It’s a recognition that the old system, with its reductive simplicity, was never enough. The School Report Card system offers a richer, more complex portrait—one that captures not just where a school stands today, but where it could go tomorrow.

As of this month, new Ofsted guidelines on school websites have gone into force, but it’s a bit confusing what these actually are. We’ve written this blog post to help demystify the changes a bit, and it should be helpful whether or not you’re a School Jotter user.
The main focus of the new requirements is governor disclosure. Basically, you now have to put information on who your governors are, what they do etc onto your website on a publicly accessible page – previously, this was recommended but not compulsory information. So here’s what you’ll need:

• Name: You’ll need to have the names of your governors – photos can also help, but aren’t compulsory
• Category: What type of governor are they?
• Which body appoints them: Who appointed them to their position as governor
• Their term of office: When will they be serving until? Is it a time-limited or a more permanent position?
• Committees: The names of any gubernatorial committees they serve on
• Their positions of responsibility: For example, if they’re the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary etc – what position do they hold?
• Voting rights: What things can they vote on and how this will influence the school?

Additionally, in order to make sure that any potential conflicts of interest are laid bare, the following information needs to be disclosed to the public:

• Any relevant business interests: Who they work for – are they part of a company who might benefit from school contracts?
• Details of positions at other schools: Do they govern any other schools? If not, this doesn’t need to be filled in.
• Any relationships at the school: If a governor has a relationship to another governor or member of staff at the school, you’ll need to put it down here. This includes spouses, partners and relatives.

Of course, these are just the new requirements – there’s still plenty of existing ones! Take a look at our Ofsted checklist for more information – you can print it out and tick off the areas you’re compliant in to give you a better idea of how you’re doing. Alternatively, perhaps you’d be interested in a free healthcheck by one of our website consultants – you don’t need to be with School Jotter, we’re here to help you!

As you may know, the Department for Education introduced new requirements for school websites in September. We have produced a free guide to the changes, which can be downloaded here.
Changes include:

• Schools are no longer obliged to publish a physical prospectus
• There is a list of specific information which schools are required to make available on their website
• If a school has no website, this information must be published elsewhere on the web, and parents must be made aware of its location

Ofsted are also placing more emphasis on the quality of school websites. The Ofsted School inspection handbook from September 2012 states that planning for the inspection should be informed by analysis of: “information available on the school’s website, which may include a prospectus and other information for parents”. The handbook also states “Schools should encourage parents to complete Parent View by placing a link on their website to the Parent View website” (Parent View being the principal source of information that inspectors will use to judge parental opinions).

As you can see, a fully populated, regularly updated website is now essential to a school. With a School Jotter website, you can be sure this is taken care of. Our expertise in creating outstanding school websites is proven, with thousands of customers in the UK alone.

We create websites tailored to meet DfE and Ofsted standards, as well as to reflect the ethos of a school. The intuitive School Jotter website management system means that any member of staff with minimal technical knowledge can easily keep the website updated with all the latest information, with the Webanywhere support team always there to provide a helping hand if necessary.
Take the stress out of managing your school website: speak to the experts.