We were advised by a local advisor, also an Ofsted inspector by moonlight to follow these practices, as well as all the above. Place a chair where you want the intruder to sit. You know the rooms and the children and the criteria you want to use in the choice. You can put your file (the big one with all the year, medium term, weekly and lesson planning in it) nearby, but also have, near the door, a thin file containing the day's lessons, and an analysis of each class concerned. Number of children, boy/girl numbers, proportion of special needs (anything really special, such as the boy I have with a special chair and a scribe). Not in great detail, but to give a quick idea of what they've walked into. Especially if, like one of ours, they've walked into the wrong lesson.

If you can, rearrange the planning to avoid any of those lessons where Murphy can intervene - not risk analysis exactly...When I was at school, the science dept. was not allowed to buy platinum electrodes, so the lesson on electrolysis of water turned into one on massaging the results to disguise the inconvenient reaction of oxygen with carbon electrodes. (We were only girls, it would only be wasted on us.) That would not have been a good lesson for inspection - though Ofsted might have got a better provision for the scientists. The lessons you know you have to teach, but that just don't work well.

Be yourself, said above, I repeat. And don't be afraid to use humour if you usually do - a good relationship with the children is a strength, and one I was praised for. (I wasn't sure about it before - just thought it would be a get away with it feature of teaching and took a risk).

KS2 children are probably better than secondary children at inspections. Ours tend to think they are being inspected too. My niece had very supportive pupils in her KS3 and 4 maths classes, though. Which was good, especially as she met Ofsted in both teaching practices and her first year teaching.

I don't have a family. I had all my evening meals out during the week (nowhere special, Sainsbury's coffee shop) so I didn't have to do any cooking or washing up, just work and bed. Cut everything except teaching down to basics that will run on autopilot, and have a good time expected at the end of the week, which I see you have already.

All the best,

Live long and prosper

Penny