Commenting on the latest Annual Report from
Ofsted, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the
National Education Union, said:
"The hard work and tremendous achievement of schools is done
against a backdrop of incredible challenges. This Ofsted
report highlights these issues, which are not of schools' making.
Teacher recruitment and retention and a lack of support for SEND
students is a direct failure by Government to ensure that all
children and young people get the education they deserve. It is
no coincidence that attendance issues are increasing alongside
waiting times for access to SEND specialist and mental health
support services. School staff have been raising these
issues, and picking up the pieces, for years and have been
ignored by a Government intent on saving money not young
people's lives.
"It is quite clear that pupils and parents have been sorely let
down by a Government that refused to fund a proper recovery
package post-COVID and have done nothing to address the fact that
there is now a significant shortage of people going into the
profession. Of those who do enter the profession a quarter of
recruits leave within three years of qualifying, and a third
within five. The strain that this has put on schools is
evident with teacher shortages across the curriculum.
"The system is also being let down by Ofsted. As was clear from
Amanda Spielman's valedictory interview with the BBC today, this
is an organisation incapable of self-scrutiny. Nor is there
a listening mode when it comes to feedback from teachers and
heads. The Beyond Ofsted report, published this week, shows all
too clearly that the current regime is not fit for purpose and
Ofsted is out of touch with the profession. 93% of
the Beyond Ofsted survey respondents said they
experienced high levels of personal stress during an
inspection. This is why we need a very different system - one
that is effective, supportive and fair."
