Commenting on
'Stuck'
Schools, a study from the
Education Policy Institute and UCL Institute of Education, on the
need for greater support for underperforming schools,
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General
Secretary of the National Education
Union,
said:
“This is an important report on
‘stuck’ schools. The researchers’ findings demolish the
government’s claim that joining a MAT will improve schools’
outcomes. They found that there is no positive effect or
negative effect for primary schools joining a MAT.
Ministers must recognise that a change of a school’s governance
is not the magic solution they claim it to
be.
“Researchers note the ‘vicious cycle’
between low Ofsted grades and increased teacher and pupil
turnover.
“It is not at all surprising that
staff in ‘stuck’ schools have grave concerns about the fairness
of Ofsted inspections - and in particular the ability of
inspectors to recognise the work done in ‘stuck’ schools to
support pupil progress. It is extremely concerning that
school staff’s impressions of the unfairness of Ofsted
inspections are reinforced by data which shows that some ‘stuck’
schools actually achieved significantly higher rates of
pupil progress than not stuck schools. Ofsted, it would
appear, has some explaining to do.
“The report makes a number
of important conclusions. The most significant, as the
Education Bill makes its way through the legislative process, is
that Ministers review the impact of academisation on primary
schools. Obsessed by structures, ministers are in grave
danger of ignoring the factors that really can improve ‘stuck’
schools - including training and retaining enough teachers,
funding these schools properly for the extra challenges they face
and radically reforming the Ofsted inspection cycle - so that its
judgements are more reliable and
fairer.”
