Commenting on Ofsted’s new inspection plans from September 2019,
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, said:
“Ofsted’s new approach to school inspections is a step in the
right direction, but it is not a panacea for all the problems
with the inspection system and there is plenty more work to do in
the future. In particular, it cannot be fair or sensible to
continue with the blunt instrument of graded judgements which
stigmatise schools with the greatest challenges, making it harder
for them to recruit teachers and leaders and to secure
sustainable improvement.
“In as far as it goes, however, this new inspection system has
its heart in the right place with its move to focus more on what
is most important – what our children are actually taught in
school – and less on arcane school performance measures. The fact
that this shift in thinking has received so much support in the
consultation conducted by Ofsted reflects the feedback that ASCL
has received from many school leaders.
“We are pleased that Ofsted has listened to our objections to its
plan for inspectors to arrive in schools to begin on-site
preparations the day before inspections start, and that it has
now decided to drop this proposal. The reality is that once
inspectors are on site, the inspection has started, and same-day
notice inspections would have disrupted the normal running of
schools.
“Ofsted has also changed its section on the English Baccalaureate
for the better by making it clear that the idea of these subjects
being taken up by 75% of pupils by 2022 is the government’s
national ambition, not a target for any individual school, and
that inspectors will not base judgements solely on progress
towards this ambition. We would have preferred this section to
have been removed in its entirety however.
“We are pleased that Ofsted has indicated that it will give
schools time to make changes to the curriculum without being
negatively judged. However, we are not convinced that its
intention to review this transitional phase in the summer of 2020
is long enough to make and embed changes to the curriculum, and
we think this period may need to be extended.
“We note that Ofsted has adapted its plans for inspections of
small schools rated good. We agree that there should be a
difference in scope between section 5 and section 8 inspections,
but all inspections must be of the same high quality and all
schools must have the same opportunity to showcase their
provision. We look forward to speaking to Ofsted about how these
adapted plans will ensure the quality and equity of inspection is
maintained in small schools.”
