What do fellow teachers think about the plans to spring short notice OFSTED inspections on schools. By drastically reducing the preparation time, will this make inspections more or less stressful?As SEN is an area dominated by paperwork I know how important it is to match policy with practice and to keep departmental handbooks updated. Is this a positive move or one guaranteed to raise general levels of anxiety?

Does an OFSTED inspection improve the quality of educaton taking place in a school? Is this a result of the present notice period giving a focus to direction the school taking? Would short notice catch schools out? Is this what is intended?

We all do a pretty good job even if at times we have to paper over the cracks?

I always think of OFSTED as a kind of stress-related illness rather than a means of improving education.
A system of peer review of teaching without the threats implicit in performance management or OFSTED would be more useful as a means of sharing experiences.
People resent being judged. On the whole teachers are quite happy to talk to other teachers about teaching and talk more freely when one of those speaking is not in a position to affect the career or salary fo the other

I have heard UK teachers say that inspection does improve teaching, but many countries don't have it and don't appear to be any the worse as a result.
We don't have any kind of inspection process in Australia, yet our international education scores are in the highest group. We don't have exams in my state until Yr 11/12 and then they are only a part of the overall assessment, yet I would hazard a guess that our kids are not much differently educated from yours. In fact, I think there is much more freedom of professional judgement here as well as breadth of curriculum.
So, what makes the British govt so sure that it is worth all the money and stress?