Commenting on the launch of Ofsted’s annual
report, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the
Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“We welcome Ofsted’s plans to undertake research into why
some schools get trapped in cycles of underperformance, and its
acknowledgment that this does not mean there is a lack of desire
to improve.
“Its research needs to include looking at the stigmatising
impact of Ofsted judgements and government performance measures,
which make it difficult to recruit leaders and teachers, and
which deter some parents from sending their children to these
schools.
“It may be that our high-stakes accountability system is in
itself at least partially responsible for trapping schools in a
cycle from which it is very difficult to escape.
“We are encouraged by Ofsted’s recognition that improvement
requires external support, and we think that creating a more
supportive environment must involve how we use accountability
measures to identify and direct the help that is needed, without
creating a corrosive sense of failure.
“Alongside this, the government must recognise that its
underfunding of schools, and the ongoing teacher recruitment and
retention crisis, make it even more difficult to secure
improvement, and that these factors are putting in jeopardy
educational standards in general. Urgent action is needed to
ensure that schools have the vital resources that they
need.”
