Commenting on changes to the school accountability system
being announced by
Education Secretary today, Geoff Barton, General
Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“School leaders will breathe a sigh of relief to see that the
Department for Education intends to clarify and simplify the
byzantine way in which they are currently judged. However, while
these measures are a welcome step towards a lighter-touch
approach, there is still a long way to go to ease the crushing
weight of our draconian accountability system.
“ASCL welcomes plans to replace the double jeopardy of having two
different measures of school performance in SATs and GCSEs – the
‘floor standard’ and the ‘coasting standard’ – with a single
measure. We will be working with the department to ensure the new
single measure is fair and clear.
“The clarification over the role of Regional Schools
Commissioners is also welcome. We have been concerned for some
time that these roles have undergone an element of ‘mission
creep’, effectively becoming another tier of inspectors in
addition to Ofsted. We are pleased to see the department has made
it clear that this will stop.
“However, we are concerned that the department intends to persist
with the policy of forcing schools which are judged to be
inadequate to become academies. There is no evidence that forced
academisation in itself improves performance. It is also obvious
that there is not sufficient capacity within the system to find
enough sponsors for these schools. As a result, many are left for
far too long in a state of limbo as “orphan schools” unsure of
their future.
“We also continue to be concerned about the intense focus on Key
Stage 2 SATs as the main way of judging primary schools. We
believe this places far too much weight on a single set of tests,
and that this system creates too much pressure on schools and
children.
“ASCL looks forward to working with the department on the
measures announced today and we will continue to press for
further reforms to make sure the system holds schools to account
in a way which is accurate, proportionate and fair.”
