NEU comments on Ofsted annual report

Commenting on the Chief Inspector's annual report, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:  

"Schools need support from Government to help children to recover their learning, while continuing to deal with the impacts of Covid. Unfortunately, the Government’s response so far has been wholly inadequate; there is nothing like enough funding, and preparation for the Government's tests in primary schools is once again starting to dominate education. 

'In these phases of recovery from the pandemic and ongoing concerns about Omicron, our schools certainly do not need an inspection regime which puts additional pressure on headteachers and school staff and refuses to acknowledge the ongoing impacts.  The Government should instruct Ofsted to pause its inspection programme.

'While the Chief Inspector reports on children's lost classroom time over the past year, there is little in her report that challenges the Government, despite it having refused the advice of Kevan Collins - its own recovery tsar."