Ofsted stands accused of 鈥渞unning away鈥 with the development of new report cards, with union leaders calling for the Department for Education to take charge amid fears the watchdog is 鈥渞eforming itself鈥. Labour made the new report cards a key manifesto pledge ahead of this year鈥檚 general election. But The watchdog announced its plans to develop and consult on the policy, aided by reference groups, earlier this month. Ministers scrapped headline Ofsted grades at the beginning of term. Unions are uneasy for several reasons. They are not represented on the reference groups, which formed before the general election. At the time, the previous government’s policy was to oppose scrapping headline grades. Ofsted is also moving at pace. It aims to have the report cards drawn up in time for a formal consultation in January. They will come into force next September. ‘Schools have had enough of things being done to them’ Daniel Kebede, the head of the National Education Union, told Schools Week the DfE 鈥渟hould be developing the report cards in dialogue with the wider profession鈥, adding that the 鈥渒ey concern鈥 was 鈥渢he regulator reforming itself鈥. Daniel Kebede He pointed to a recent signal from the government that they will work more closely with unions. 鈥淭he impression we鈥檙e getting is one of the first things up for discussion is accountability. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 completely undermined by the chief inspector running away, developing his own report cards and then telling the profession what鈥檚 going to happen. Schools have had enough of things being done to them.鈥 While Ofsted, which is independent and answers directly to Parliament, is responsible for setting its approach to inspection, overall accountability policy is set by government. ‘Don’t try to make cards fit existing model’ Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT leaders鈥 union, acknowledged a 鈥済enuine intention from Ofsted to achieve change quickly, and for good reasons鈥, but said the election result meant we now had a government 鈥渢hat wants a different relationship between inspection and wider accountability鈥. Paul Whiteman 鈥淎nd what we are frightened of right now is that Ofsted are continuing with that pace without really understanding that actually what’s being demanded now by government and the sector is that complete redesign, rather than trying to make a report card fit an inspection model that’s already in place. 鈥淚f they do that, that would be a huge mistake, and it will let the sector down.鈥 He agreed with Kebede that the government 鈥渟hould be leading on it鈥t鈥檚 for the government to outline its policy towards inspection, rather than the inspectorate, and then the inspectorate build a model that meets that policy鈥. 鈥淚 think Ofsted is getting ahead of itself.鈥 A DfE spokesperson said it was 鈥渨orking closely with Ofsted on developing the report cards over the next year, with extensive engagement and consultation with parents and the education sector to ensure the new report card is as clear and transparent as possible鈥. DfE should issue report cards Some sector leaders believe it should be the DfE 鈥 not Ofsted 鈥 that issues the report cards when they are rolled out. The intention is for the report cards to provide wider 鈥渋nsights鈥 into schools beyond what inspectors observe, though what data parents might be presented with has not been set out. Gilbert 鈥淚f what we’re doing is giving a kind of a much broader reflection of the school that should come from DfE and the Ofsted inspection part of that should be just contained within it,” said Whiteman. Dame Christine Gilbert, a former chief inspector who led a lessons learned review of Ofsted鈥檚 response to the death last year of headteacher Ruth Perry, told Schools Week earlier this month that 鈥渄one well, school report cards tell the real story of a school鈥. Gilbert said existing approaches to report cards involved Ofsted reports 鈥渓ocated as an additional piece of information within the report card, but it loses its primacy. 鈥淥fsted should definitely contribute to them and indeed, could use its data to support the development of some the priorities they identify, but it is hard to see how Ofsted itself has the authority, knowledge or resources to assume responsibility for rolling them out.鈥 Fears over ‘arbitrary’ 2025 deadline Ofsted has pledged informal consultation this term as it develops the report cards. Pepe DiIasio 鈥淲e have committed to a formal consultation on the report card and framework early in the new year. And we have informal engagement planned throughout the coming term鈥, including a meeting with unions and the Confederation of School Trusts on Thursday. But union leaders remain nervous about the timescales involved. 鈥淚 think pace is a real problem,鈥 said Kebede. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why we鈥檝e got this arbitrary date of September 1 2025. I think it鈥檚 more important to get it right than do it quickly.鈥 Pepe Di鈥橧asio, leader of the ASCL leaders鈥 union, said he had heard from his members 鈥渢hat we would rather go slower over the course of this next year and not rush to a deadline鈥o put something in place for a framework for September鈥. ‘It should not be a fait accompli’ He added that it would be the 鈥渨orst case scenario鈥 if Ofsted simply presented its final ideas to the sector for consultation in January. 鈥淲hat we want is real collaboration. We want people to feel that they’ve all had their voices heard, and what we then see is a real moment of 鈥榶ou said this, we did this鈥. It should not be a fait accompli at all.鈥 Sir Martyn Oliver However, he said he had 鈥渟ome sympathy鈥 with chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver 鈥渂ecause for many years now, we’ve been saying to him, we want change, and we’re desperate for change”. Whiteman criticised the constitution of the reference groups, which 鈥渨ere selected even before the election was taking place鈥 and before the new government signalled greater collaboration with unions. 鈥淭hey were selected to undertake a completely different role, a different job. The reference panel that talks about health and wellbeing of school leaders doesn’t have a single trade union official on it that I can identify.鈥 He said implementation in September 2025 鈥済ives us a year to do it鈥. 鈥淚 think the problem is, Ofsted are moving even faster than that, or it feels like they are.鈥
Dan 22 September 2024 We are at a serious tipping point. Last year almost as many teachers left the profession as entered it. The government need to recognize that we will need more than a few thousand new teachers. The whole education system requires complete reform, as it is not fit for purpose. There is too great an emphasis placed upon academic qualifications, inappropriate to most individuals.(When soon hardly anybody will be able to afford University.). There is too much public money being wasted on too many unnecessary managerial positions in so called trusts.