红桃影视

Government intervention in schools rated 鈥榬equires improvement鈥� twice in a row has 鈥渃learly raised the stakes鈥� and put more 鈥減ressure鈥� on leaders, the chief inspector of Ofsted has said.

Amanda Spielman also warned MPs that scrapping single-phrase judgments would leave another element of an Ofsted report to 鈥渂ecome the new extreme pressure鈥� that triggered intervention.

The outgoing watchdog boss appeared in front of the House of Commons education committee this afternoon as MPs wrapped up their

‘We feel that pressure coming through’

Spielman acknowledged 鈥渁 lot of people clearly do dislike or resent the fact that a poor inspection judgment can lead to a change of control for a school鈥�.

She said this was 鈥渘ot new鈥�, but government intervention in so-called 鈥渄ouble RI鈥� schools 鈥渋s new, and it has clearly raised the stakes for schools and for MATs and we do feel and see that pressure coming through into inspections鈥�.

Ofsted had already warned last year that 鈥榗oasting鈥� school powers would be 鈥渦nnecessary and potentially damaging鈥� for improving schools and risk encouraging 鈥渜uick fixes鈥�.

Schools are ‘pushing for exemption’

Spielman acknowledged today that schools were dealing with huge problems in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a sense among schools that it鈥檚 unfair to be held to account publicly when they鈥檙e working so hard with such difficult issues鈥�.

But she said there was “really nothing that Ofsted does that is in the slightest bit unusual in that context”.

“I鈥檓 not a policymaker, it鈥檚 for government to decide if it wants to change that whole framework of public accountability, but I think we鈥檙e feeling a bit of a push from the school sector for exemption from that framework.鈥�

‘My framework wasn’t about my interests’

Spielman鈥檚 appearance at the inquiry followed testimony last month from her predecessor, Sir Michael Wilshaw, who criticised Ofsted鈥檚 approach to outcomes during her tenure.

But his successor fired back this morning, telling MPs she 鈥渁rrived as chief inspector at a time when the sector was in revolt, when it was very clear that the incentives of inspection were operating in some very undesirable ways on schools鈥�.

鈥淭here was no question that a change was very badly wanted.鈥�

Ofsted鈥檚 current inspection framework, launched in 2019, was 鈥淚 think for the first time鈥�a framework that was truly built off the evidence鈥�.

She also said she 鈥渄id something I don鈥檛 think my predecessors have necessarily done, which is I did not make the inspection framework about my particular interests and preferences鈥�.

鈥淚 thought that was something Ofsted needed to move away from.”

Reports already give ’rounded picture’

Much of the pressure to change Ofsted has focused on calls to remove the single-phrase inspection judgments handed to schools. Labour plans to replace them with a 鈥渞eport card鈥� showing schools鈥� strengths and weaknesses.

Spielman insisted today that current reports 鈥渁bsolutely do give a rounded picture of a school鈥�.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that the world pays too much attention to the overall effectiveness judgment relative to the pieces underneath.

“But I do have to constantly remind people that there鈥檚 already a scorecard built into the inspection framework and the set of judgments that we use.鈥�

‘Something else would be new extreme pressure’

She added the overall judgment 鈥渉as such freight and weight in the system鈥� because it is the 鈥渢hing on which those interventions are hung鈥�, and that stakeholders’ concerns often ended up being “not about the words, it鈥檚 about the consequences”.

She even revealed she had suggested an 鈥渁lternative formulation of inadequate to the headteacher unions”, but they “recognised that the consequence thing was the real point at issue鈥�.

Spielman added such a change would mean “the regulatory system would hang on something else. And that would become the new extreme pressure.”

Spielman fears ‘bastardisation’ of training materials

Spielman also claimed it was 鈥渁 bit of a myth鈥� that leaders working as Ofsted inspectors unfairly benefited from access to training materials.

She said Ofsted published 鈥渧ideos, blogs, webinars covering everything that we train inspectors in鈥�, all in 鈥渁 form that is suitable for self-service use鈥�.

But some people want 鈥渟pecific materials that are used in our interactive training sessions鈥�. These are delivered by senior HMI who have been 鈥渢rained and prepared to facilitate those discussions鈥�.

鈥淚f we simply dumped those slides out as people would like, we would get firstly the consulting industry picking them up and ramping up the mocksted industry even further.

“And secondly we would get some terrible bastardisations of people using stuff that they weren鈥檛 trained for.鈥�

Outstanding schools ‘detached from rest of world’

During re-inspections of previously outstanding schools, Spielman said Ofsted had 鈥渇ound quite a lot that schools have just a bit detached from what the rest of the world has been learning and seeing and recognising鈥�.

鈥淭he whole debate and growth in knowledge about curriculum, about pedagogy, about assessment has passed them by.鈥�

Inspectors hired for their ‘bedside manner’

The chief inspector was also asked about calls for Ofsted to have a 鈥渄uty of care鈥� over those in the sector.

She said inspectors were hired 鈥渇or their bedside manner as well as for their knowledge and experience鈥� and that Ofsted got 鈥渆xtremely positive feedback鈥�.

She also shot down a suggestion that the post-inspection surveys were being conducted while inspections took place.

鈥淭he link goes out with the final inspection report. This is a myth that is being circulated to try and discredit that survey and it is unreasonable.鈥�

Teachers fed a ‘great deal of negativity’

Spielman also took aim at the National Education Union (and its predecessor the National Union of Teachers, which existed before 2017).

She said she worked in an environment 鈥渨here the biggest teaching union has been committed to abolishing accountability and inspection for over a decade and relentlessly pushes its members to be hostile to inspection鈥�.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it would make a blind bit of difference what we did. If we did things in different ways, I think that it鈥檚 likely that that absolute opposition would remain. So a great deal of negativity is pushed out at teachers from when they first start, and that is a really difficult thing to counteract.鈥�