Inspections are showing there are reasons to be optimistic about
the education recovery effort, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector will say
in a speech on Thursday.
Speaking at the Festival of Education at Wellington College,
Amanda Spielman will warn that we must avoid the temptation to
see schools as the first lever to pull in the face of social
challenges.
Ms Spielman will say, with limited time in a school day, that
piling roles and agendas on schools risks overloading them and
losing sight of their core mission: education.
She will revisit some of the themes of her first speech to the
festival in 2017 around the importance of curriculum and
substance of education.
Ms Spielman is expected to say:
“Some of the worst fears about the impact on education are
beginning to wane. Inspections are showing that the vast majority
of schools are providing a good education and helping all
children get the best start they can. The same is true in early
years and in further education. Thanks to everyone working in
education, we can start to be optimistic again.”
With reference to the importance of protecting the education
recovery effort, she will add:
“But these early signs of recovery are still fragile. We need to
avoid the temptation to overload schools, by seeing them as the
first lever to pull in the face of any social challenge. ‘Teach
it in schools’ is a common refrain, but the pressure of treating
schools as the solution to everything puts education at risk. We
need teachers to concentrate on the real substance of what they
are teaching. It’s what they do best and it’s working.”
Notes to editors
The full speech will be published on Ofsted’s website after
delivery.
