Sir Martyn Oliver, the government鈥檚 pick to be the next chief inspector, faced his pre-appointment hearing in front of the education committee today. Here鈥檚 what we learned. 1. He has three main priorities for the role 鈥 Oliver told MPs 鈥渢he last thing the system needs right now 鈥 is a revolution鈥, but outlined three things he wanted to achieve in the role (read our news story here for more information on this). The first is a 鈥渂ig listen鈥 to the sectors Ofsted inspects. His second priority is to get 鈥渕ore leaders鈥 involved in inspections. The third aim is to 鈥渓ook holistically鈥 at how disadvantaged children are supported by all services in each local authority area. 2. Pledge to 鈥榣ook at鈥 single-phrase judgments Quizzed about the reliability of the current suite of four single-phrase judgments, Oliver said: 鈥淚 do think it needs looking at, because I do think it leads to a sense of, is there a sense of trust in the system that you can move from one judgment to the other? 鈥淗ow can you explain that? I鈥檝e got some thoughts on it, but they are quite rightly formative at this stage and I want to actually talk to the experts who are delivering on the ground and have been doing it for years.鈥 3. Criticism of current framework toned down Oliver was one of a number of high-profile trust bosses who in 2020 criticised Ofsted鈥檚 new inspection framework, which placed a greater emphasis on the quality of education and less focus on pupil outcomes. The broken link between exam results and Ofsted ratings But he was far more complimentary this morning, saying current chief inspector Amanda Spielman 鈥渟hould be hugely congratulated for forcing the substance of education front and centre鈥. However, his concerns over 鈥渃onsistency鈥 remain, and he said pupil outcomes were also 鈥渋mportant鈥. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 difficult to explain how some schools had a 鈥榞ood鈥 quality of education and some of the best outcomes in the country and I think it鈥檚 difficult to explain how you get some of the worst outcomes in the country getting a 鈥榞ood鈥 inspection.鈥 But he said the 鈥渂eauty鈥 of the framework was that 鈥渃oming out of a post-Covid era, it would be hard to be in a situation where it says 鈥榦utcomes = Ofsted grade鈥. That wouldn鈥檛 do anyone any favours at the moment.鈥 4. Ofsted should review attendance 鈥榬ight now鈥 Recent statistics have shown that one in five pupils were 鈥減ersistently鈥 absent from school last year, with an attendance gap between poorer children and their better off peers widening. ‘The new epidemic’: Why more pupils are missing school Oliver said that 鈥渞ight now I desperately need Ofsted to do a thematic dive into attendance鈥e need to go out and see the best practice.鈥 But this should not then take the form of an academic paper, Oliver warned. Instead leaders should be given information on how other schools improve attendance, such as which staff they employ and how much they are paid. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what heads need. They don鈥檛 just need a bunch of airy fairy 鈥榯his is what you could do鈥.鈥 5. MAT inspections 鈥榠nevitable鈥 Spielman has repeatedly called for inspections of multi-academy trusts, something Labour has pledged to introduce if it comes to power. Oliver said today it was 鈥渋nevitable I would hope that we need to look at how Ofsted can inspect groups, and I don鈥檛 just mean multi-academy trusts鈥. 鈥淚 could mean the same when it comes to groups who own different care homes. I think the landscape is changing and Ofsted must change with the landscape.鈥 6. Ofsted King in the North Oliver revealed today he鈥檚 asked the Ofsted board for his terms and conditions to state his base would be in the north of England. The inspectorate has offices in Manchester and York. 鈥淭he board have already intimated that that鈥檚 something they are seriously going to consider. I think that鈥檚 a really important message we can pass out to the system.鈥 7. 鈥楻eflection, not isolation鈥 Outwood Grange, Oliver鈥檚 trust, has faced criticism over its approach to behaviour. He was challenged this morning on his record as a 鈥渮ero-tolerance鈥 head. Schools Week revealed in 2019 how as many as half of pupils in some of the trust鈥檚 schools were placed in internal isolation. But Oliver insisted 鈥渋t鈥檚 not isolation, it鈥檚 a reflection room. Students are never isolated. They鈥檙e working in there with pastoral experts. No child is ever written-off. 鈥淶ero-tolerance is a term I don鈥檛 understand, I don鈥檛 recognise, I don鈥檛 believe anyone recognises. I have zero tolerance for bad behaviour that disrupts children鈥檚 education.鈥 8. Suspensions and exclusions defended He also defended suspension and exclusion rates, saying OGAT had 鈥渟ome of the most difficult and broken schools in the system鈥. 鈥淲hen you go into a school like that, and you work with them and after just one year you double their results. These are children you are giving, who are disadvantaged, a much greater chance of succeeding in their life.鈥 Suspensions in Outwood are also 鈥渁ctually very short鈥, he said, averaging a day and a half. 鈥淎nd our figures on permanent exclusions are lower than most in the areas in which we work.鈥 9. 鈥極ff-rolling troubles me greatly鈥 While he said some parents removed their children for elective home education for the 鈥渞ight reasons鈥, he said he knew there was 鈥渙ff-rolling taking place in the system鈥. He said this was a 鈥渟ackable offence鈥 for his heads, adding it was 鈥渁n area where Ofsted can shine the light鈥. 鈥淚t troubles me that there are children who could be bouncing about from one LA to another, from one service provider to another.鈥 He said some children attended unregistered provision full-time, which is illegal. He has also heard about unregistered settings creating 鈥渁 second company, so for one day they can be in one organisation and then another day they鈥檙e in another organisation鈥. 10. Inspections should consider EHCP rate Oliver said he was 鈥渢roubled鈥 by variations between some schools in the rate of pupils with education, health and care plans. He said one of his schools had 鈥渟even times the number of EHCP students than schools that are around it鈥. 鈥淚 think, again, what we can do is say when we鈥檙e inspecting, let鈥檚 look, what is the EHCP percentage? Is there a reason?鈥 For example, he said where a council was not issuing EHCPs soon enough, schools may have many SEND-identified children but without the plans, which bring with them statutory responsibilities, and extra funding. 鈥淎gain, can we join all of this up once and for all in this country. Let鈥檚 stop just saying 鈥榠t鈥檚 the school, it鈥檚 the local authority鈥 because there are great people working in these institutions.鈥
David 3 January 2024 I鈥檓 interested to see how this turns out, including the debate on behaviour. I think past governments have equated high exclusion rates with failure, because of the problems it caused for the excluded children, their families and society in general with substantial numbers of children not in school. The unintended consequence of that equation is that poorly behaved children may feel they can rule the roost with no danger of accountability. Unfortunately whilst this gives them the benefit of a school to go to every day, their interests may conflict with the interests of pupils who would like to get an education and teachers who would like to teach. I don鈥檛 think the right approach can be found by setting a slider – this requires some vision. I am interested to see what happens.