When fellows of the Chartered College of Teaching met to discuss Ofsted鈥檚 proposals with His Majesty鈥檚 chief inspector last week, their questions went to the heart of the problem: inspection is currently a process that is 鈥榙one to鈥� schools, their leaders and staff. It is certainly true that we need to know that schools are fulfilling their statutory responsibilities and providing the best education possible for the pupils in their care. It is also important that school leaders have opportunities to see their provision from other perspectives, to see how other schools manage similar challenges and to justify their approaches. However, this isn鈥檛 a role Ofsted has fulfilled in the past, and we鈥檙e concerned that is still a long way from this.聽 Sir Martyn is clear that he wants inspection to be a professional conversation. He told members that he wants inspectors to start with conversations with leaders, staff, parents and pupils to understand how they see the school. He wants those conversations to shape the direction of the inspection: 鈥淭ell me what your improvement priorities are, what you鈥檙e really proud of鈥�. Of course, he also wants inspectors to be able to tell school leaders if they see something that concerns them, and ask for evidence that it鈥檚 being addressed. And importantly, he wants to invite leaders to explain how their context and intake impacts on their outcomes, what steps they are taking to meet the needs of their pupils. His vision, as he told members, is a system where leaders can be honest about their strengths and weaknesses, where they can be challenged when their practice isn鈥檛 as good as they think and shared as exemplary when it is. I think we鈥檇 all love to see that. The problem is that teachers and leaders have lost trust in the inspectorate. They feel that they have to second-guess what inspectors are looking for, which leads to hours of unnecessary work 鈥榡ust in case鈥� and huge pressure to demonstrate perfect provision. A new framework won鈥檛 solve Ofsted鈥檚 subjectivity problem A new framework, particularly one that is open to different interpretations, won鈥檛 solve the problem, described by one Fellow, of Ofsted鈥檚 subjectivity. Rightly, our members want greater clarity and fewer focus areas. And given that inspection can never be a truly objective process, they need to know that they can hold the inspectorate accountable for being, in the chief inspector鈥檚 own words, 鈥渁ccurate, fair and consistent鈥�. Re-building trust in Ofsted depends on it, so we would like to see a clear process for monitoring inspection decisions, to identify inconsistencies and bias, with open reporting of the issues and how they are being resolved. More fundamentally still, the Ofsted model has led to the profession losing trust in itself. Too many schools are focused on 鈥榳hat Ofsted wants鈥�, leading to a loss of creativity and innovation. Leaders feel the pressure to make improvements quickly rather than focus on deep changes. We鈥檝e seen this clearly in our Rethinking Curriculum project, with leaders unwilling to make changes they knew were right for their children for fear of Ofsted judgment. Members want inspection to recognise the cyclical nature of improvement, and the time it takes to effect real change. I am particularly concerned that the proposed 鈥榚xemplary鈥� judgment could again be seen as the inspectorate determining what excellence looks like, with leaders feeling pressure to copy 鈥極fsted-approved鈥� practice. Instead, members want a framework that encourages schools to collaborate and share their own case studies of excellence and opportunities to learn from their improvement journey. For the profession to regain its voice and to attract and retain excellent teachers, we need an inspection system that empowers. And for that we need an inspectorate that is knowledgeable, reflective and open to learning. Sir Martyn was clear about the importance of training. He re-iterated that he is keen to work with us to carry the learning from chartered status into accredited inspector training. I believe that our focus on professional principles, critical reading of evidence and understanding its uses and impacts in practice would be an ideal basis for long-term development of inspectors鈥� professional practice. But just like school improvement, rebuilding trust will take time.