We catch up with Heidi Andrews, PSHE lead at Malvern College, about how she ensured a smooth and positive inspection experience.
Heidi is a PSHE lead at Malvern College, an independent day and boarding school in Worcestershire. Heidi attended our ISI: Get ready for inspection in Independent Schools (cross-phase) online CPD course. Here she shares how this supported her to prepare for inspection and reflects on the unique contribution PSHE education made to inspection evidence for her school.
We also have a 'PSHE in independent schools (cross-phase)' CPD course available, which goes into more detail about the inspection process and strategies for empowering your whole staff team, and tailoring your curriculum to your pupils' needs and your wider school ethos and aims.
Monica is a former PSHE lead and Assistant Head in an all-through boarding school, who now leads the PSHE Association’s guidance and support for colleagues in independent schools. Monica has over 15 years of experience in education, leading PSHE education in state and independent schools.
Note: This interview transcript has been edited for readability with permission from both speakers.
This interview explores one approach to participating in an inspection with ISI in an independent school setting. All settings will vary, as may the focus of inspection, and this example describes what has worked for one PSHE lead in a particular school. You will know your own setting, and the needs of your pupils best, and the suggestions shared here may not all be applicable to all settings.
Monica Perry (MP)
Hello and welcome to this podcast where we're going to be sharing first-hand experience of inspection in an independent school. I'm delighted to be joined by Heidi Andrews, Head of PSHE — known as 'Life Skills' in the school — from Malvern College in Worcestershire. Heidi attended our CPD: 'PSHE in Independent Schools: Preparing for Inspection', which supported her to get prepared and ready for her school's inspection. And Heidi is going to share how this helped her reflect on the unique contribution PSHE education makes to the inspection evidence of her school. Welcome, Heidi. Thank you so much for joining us.
Heidi Andrews (HA)
Thank you.
MP
If we could just start off by exploring what made you book a place on the course with us and what had you been hoping to get from the course?
HA
Thanks, Monica. Yes. Well, I was quite new to the role of Head of Life Skills. Actually, when I joined, I was told "we will inspected next year" — I was really relieved it wasn't that year, actually! But I wanted to be really prepared and ready for it and absolutely not find myself in the situation where the school was put in a difficult position because of my contribution and my area of responsibility. I came to the role of Head of PSHE at Malvern from actually working overseas in a completely different context. I was in the Middle East, where a lot of the really sensitive topics that we do deal with in PSHE weren't covered at all. So I did feel a little bit anxious about some of that curriculum content. Having not been in the UK and part of the UK's journey in PSHE over the last eight years, I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't missed anything really important. When I saw the CPD advertised, to me, I was just really glad to see that opportunity and to join. That's what brought me to the day.
MP
Brilliant. Thank you. And what was your experience of the training day itself?
HA
Well, I joined remotely. I think it was a couple of hours, one afternoon. And I found it really, really productive and purposeful — throughout the whole session. I did find the day really helpful and very focused and relevant for what I was looking for. So, yeah, it was great.
MP
Brilliant. That's great to hear. And did it match what you expected? Did you come away with the information that you needed or what was maybe most helpful about the training?
HA
I mean, the day itself was brilliant. But obviously, as these days go, it's an awful lot to absorb and reflect on and cross-check with what you're doing and what you thought you were meant to be doing at the time. So I found that the slides that were sent out to us of the training afterwards were absolutely invaluable to me. And I really scrutinised them. I kept them on my desktop and I kept revisiting visiting them over the next weeks and months just to really help me orientate myself ready for the inspection and make sure I had everything in place. So that was probably the most useful thing for me.
MP
Yeah, that's great. Thanks, Heidi. And in terms of the takeaways or the actions from those slides, what did you take from that or put into practise as a result of the training and the slides that you had?
HA
Well, some of the new things that I took away and promptly did were things like issuing a pupil survey, asking them for their reflections on the year and what had gone well, what they'd enjoyed, what they got a lot out of, and what they hadn't found quite so useful and relevant. For example, I had been getting feedback from students as we went along, but actually in terms of a review of the whole academic year, I hadn't done that. That was really useful. Actually, that showed me, for example, that the Year Nines hadn't particularly loved their relationships and sex education, but they'd absolutely loved their first aid, whereas the Year Tens had really engaged with the relationships and sex education. I was able to then tweak the curriculum going forward, so just a little bit less time spent on RSE with the Year Nines and then actually digging a little deeper with the Year Tens — I think possibly it's more relevant to them by that age. That was one of the things I took away. The other thing I took away, really, was like a massive to-do list of things that I wanted to have clear in my mind and clearly mapped out and written down and laid out in preparation for the inspection as well. So, yeah, I did literally write a to-do list for myself.
MP
That's great. I mean, we love a to-do list. But it's really interesting to hear that taking away the guidance around student voice and how to actually then act upon that feedback has really made a difference to the curriculum. And you've been able to have that impact to meet those students' needs in that way. So that's really brilliant to hear. And in terms of your to-do list, what were some of the the key things that you can remember thinking "right, okay, now I'm going to put this in place" or "I want to review this aspect of leading the subject area". Are there any things that you can think of there?
HA
I think the main things that I... I mean, there were things that I felt not completely confident on or that I hadn't done — like a record of the CPD that the staff had done, the minutes of my meetings needed tidying up. I won't say we didn't have parent engagement because we did, but I just wrote... I identified all these things. I got lots of documents together. And initially, I created a massive PowerPoint for myself full of links to this document, that evidence, student assessment evidence, data on student progress, examples of student work that I'd scanned or uploaded. So I created a very complicated PowerPoint with lots and lots of links. And actually, when I showed it to my line manager and said "this is what I'm doing ready for preparation", he said, "well, why don't you print it all out?" Because actually, if you're trying to show an inspector your evidence and the WiFi doesn't work, for example, that can be quite flustering. So I did I did print out loads and loads of documents and have a really big fat file, which made me feel very comfortable by the time I met the inspectors. And actually, that was really, really helpful during the interview I had as well.
MP
Yeah, absolutely. In the course itself, we do talk about the evidence that you must have in place, so things like your policy and the engagement with parents, those sorts of things. But then also a conversation about things that might be helpful to have in place, just as you said. For some teachers, having that electronically might be the route they want to go. But for you, having that actual physical folder with those examples of evidence in to take with you during the inspection was quite reassuring then.
HA
It was. Of course, the inspection gets called on the Monday, doesn't it. And then Tuesday, you're into it. So there is zero time at that stage to prepare. And actually just having that folder that I could flick through on the Monday night and just remind myself of what I had there and what we were doing and whizzed through your PowerPoint one last time just to really orientate my thinking and be ready for the questions that I would be asked. That was really, really helpful. So it was all ready and in place, but you just don't know when that inspection is coming. And we were waiting for it. We were expecting it every week for months, actually. So it was great just having it all there, tucked away on a shelf, ready for the day.
MP
Absolutely. It sounds like a really good thing to do to prepare. So if we think about the actual inspection itself, I'm sure that teachers listening would be really, really keen to hear your first-hand experience of this.
HA
Of course.
MP
In terms of an interview with the inspector, can you recall any of the questions that you were asked during that interview?
HA
Yeah, Absolutely, I can. The first thing she said: "Do you happen to have a copy of your curriculum handy?" And of course, I had it all printed out and it was all colour-coded and beautiful. I'd looked at the PSHE Association's Programme Builders and guidance. I'd spent quite a lot of time going through those, cross-referencing it with our curriculum. And then I'd done exactly the same colour coding and mapped out the whole of the curriculum from year 9 to 11 on this one document. So I was really pleased to be able to flick through through my file and immediately give her this piece of paper. That made me feel confident, but I also feel that it reassured... I'd like to think it reassured the inspector and gave her the right impression and made her feel that actually this is an organised school and Life Skills is covered in a really comprehensive way. That was the first question. Then she led on to... Her phrasing was very... It didn't feel very probing, but looking back on it, I think that possibly if I hadn't been able to answer the questions, her direction of questioning might have become more probing.
She asked me "when do you teach RSE?" And I was able to say: "well, actually, we teach it in Year 9 and Year 10. We touch on it in Year 11. We teach it again in-depth in Year 12. We do a refresher in Year 13." I was very confident about what we provide, why we do it that way. It's all mapped on the curriculum. That just felt very under control from my viewpoint. One of the other questions she asked me — which again, it seemed quite flippant, but looking back on it, I think it was quite testing — was: "when do you teach the protected characteristics?" I was able to say: "I drip feed it through the lower years. We have an explicit lesson on it in Year 11." She could see that lesson mapped out on the curriculum. And actually, reflecting, that was one of the things that I did really take away from the CPD was the need to teach protected characteristics and to be clear about when you're doing that. So the interview itself, to me, felt very easy. I felt very confident in it. It didn't feel at all like an interrogation. It was just a really kindly conversation.
But I do think that that was because I was really ready and I went in with this big file and I was able to give her exactly what she wanted when she asked for it. So that was why I was really grateful for the CPD, because I think it put me in that position.
“If I was to give a tip to anyone preparing for inspection, it's to go through the PowerPoint, the list of things which you absolutely have to have in place, and just methodically get all that in place.”
MP
That's brilliant. And I'm sure that that will be really reassuring to listeners to hear that it didn't feel like an interrogation. It felt more like a conversation. But absolutely, going in prepared helps you to feel calm about that, doesn't it? That's fantastic, Heidi. Thank you. And what were you proudest to showcase in that conversation?
HA
I think the thing I really wanted to get in was... The way we teach Life Skills in the sixth form is — after quite a lot of curriculum review — we do teach it through a series of drop-down days, which we also have alongside tutor time discussions. They get that day of focus where they can really concentrate on their PSHE and different topics from expert speakers. There's a lot of buzz and conversation around Life Skills on that day. But then we do follow best practice by giving them time to discuss it and reflect on it and review it with their tutors. But I think partly because of that way that we do do those drop-down days, and we offer very exciting opportunities, occasionally with different workshops from providers. We did everything one year from self-defence, survival, first aid, car maintenance, cooking, finance, negotiation skills. I think I had about 13 or 14 different workshops. This work has been recognised by Talk Education. We actually won an award towards the end of last year for our provision for life after leaving school and preparing students for that. So I was really keen to get this into the conversation — that we do that at Malvern — and to showcase that to the inspector. You know: if you've got it, flaunt it. So we did.
MP
Yeah, it sounds like a fantastic opportunity that really brings the curriculum to life for the students that take part in that. So that sounds excellent, Heidi. Thank you. And did you get any feedback from the Inspector about the PSHE curriculum?
HA
I didn't get any at the time. She seemed calm and smiling and took away my... I said "please take my big folder and review it when you get back to your office!" So she took it. I think I actually have heard in school that the report has been sent to school now, but I haven't seen it yet. So no, I haven't had that feedback, but we passed. So that was my primary goal, obviously. I'll look forward to reading any more nuanced feedback.
MP
Yeah, absolutely. Eagerly await that, but it sounds like it's going to be really, really positive. I guess just to finish off, is there anything that you think you did differently or are doing differently — whether that's to prepare for inspection or in your leadership of the subject — as a result of the training that you had with us?
HA
Actually, one of the things that I started the job quite concerned about was assessment and evidence of assessment. Coming from an academic subject specialism of English, I'm all about numbers written down and data and grades and tracking. I went in with the expectation that I should have spreadsheets with results on for all the students and track their progress. One of the things that I was really pleased to hear about in the CPD was that assessment and progress can be measured through things like mind maps and 'I can do' and 'I'm working towards' [statements], and lists like that. It doesn't have to be quite so test and data-driven. So actually, I changed that. It's been much more useful for the students, and it's much more granular and nuanced in terms of what they can actually do — because the tests I was using weren't particularly effective, I didn't think, but I was slightly doing it so that I had evidence. But the understanding that there are different ways of assessing that are completely acceptable was really liberating. So that was brilliant. That is one thing I've changed. Actually, the curriculum as a whole, from my first year of doing the job last academic year to my second year of doing it this academic year — because I've got a much better understanding of what needs to be covered, how it goes down, what the students already know — I've actually managed to increase the content of the curriculum quite substantially.
So as the lead of PSHE, I do write all the lessons and create PowerPoints and resources which I give to the teachers delivering, which does... I like the idea of consistency. Also, you might have a Biology teacher or a PE teacher or whatever teaching, and it's not their subject area of specialism. I want to give them as much as possible to help them to deliver quality lessons for the students. That was something I did during the inspection as well, actually. Obviously, I provided the resources, but I also wrote the lesson plans in detail and then just sent them out to the staff to adapt for their own particular students in terms of SEND and that kind of thing. But I just felt that that was a really good way I could support the staff and ensure quality across the school for the different classes. I think that's another thing that probably does look good to inspectors as well.
MP
I think so, Heidi. It sounds like from attending the training, you were able to then identify "Okay, where are the areas that you need to focus on or the documentation that you want to have prepared?" and then we're able to present that with the confidence of knowing that you were presenting the right information in the right kind of way. And you'd identified your priorities. So for example, with the student voice, you'd identified things that you were going to implement as a result of that and know where you are on that journey of improvement and building and developing what already is a really strong foundation by the sounds of it. So I'm sure that will have come across in that interview and was perhaps why you weren't probed too much as well.
HA
I think so. Yeah, I do really think that if I was to give a tip to anyone preparing, for inspection, it's to go through the PowerPoint, the list of things which you absolutely have to have in place, and just methodically get all that in place. It probably already is in place, most of it, but to know where it is and to be able to put your finger on it when asked and to have all that evidence compiled, as you say, whatever way works, whether it's a physical folder or a digital file, and to be able to locate things quickly, that would be my top tip.
MP
And by "PowerPoint", is that the PowerPoint from the training with us?
HA
Yes, it is. Yes, the slides that were sent through, just because that was my way of going through each single slide and going, "Okay, that's nailed down. I can do that." And then just literally sifting through and writing to-do lists of anything I felt that we weren't completely secure on. And then finally, anything that I still didn't feel completely secure on, I wrote it into my SWOT analysis for the year coming so that I just made it a target for improvement. And then I felt confident that if I was challenged, I could say to the inspectors` "Yes, I have reviewed this area, and I actually I am working towards improving it" and that that was written down and evidenced. That conversation didn't arise at all, but that was my way of coping with anything that I still felt needed improvement because nothing can be a hundred percent perfect.
MP
Yeah, absolutely. And you were ready for that conversation, should it happen. So the content of the training gave you that checklist to identify where your strengths are, where your next steps are, and to be ready to talk about it — which sounds like really, really effective preparation. And it's brilliant to hear that you had such a positive experience as well. And eagerly await the report to see any more details about that. Heidi, is there anything else you would like to share?
HA
No, I just want to say a huge thank you, really, to you guys for the training, because it really helped me hugely in preparation. I'm so glad I stumbled across it as an option. And that I attended it and that the resources that you sent out in support were so helpful. Also, I think that the tone of the training was really empowering. I think one of the things that — it might have been you who said it at the time — was "if you haven't done a people survey, do it now. You can do it. It's not a difficult thing to do. Get it done this week." and I thought: "Okay, yeah, it's not too late to put things in place". So yeah — the general tone and the supportive nature of the training made a huge difference to me as well.
MP
Oh that's brilliant. Thank you so much, Heidi. That really does mean a lot because we try to put a lot of thought into our approach with training as well as the content. It's great to hear that it's been so helpful. Thank you so much for everything that you're doing with PSHE at Malvern. The pupils will be benefiting from a really great provision. It sounds like there's lots of really exciting enhancements happening as well at college. So they're lucky to have you. Thank you so much for your time today.
HA
Thank you. Thank you very much.