The sister of a headteacher who took her personal life after her faculty obtained a downgrade from Ofsted has acknowledged that the lately introduced inspection system reforms are inadequate. Ruth Perry, former headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading, passed away in January. The school was rated “good” in each category except management and administration, the place it was deemed “inadequate.” Since Perry’s dying, there have been rising requires Ofsted to implement reforms, together with the abolition of one-word assessments.
Despite the stress, Ofsted’s adjustments do not include the removal of single-word rankings. Chief inspector Amanda Spielman emphasized that Ofsted is paying attention to concerns raised following Perry’s dying and is considering revisions to its work while maintaining a give attention to children and parents’ needs. However, Perry’s sister, Professor Julia Waters, believes that the changes are solely “a start” and don’t fully address the problems brought on by the current system.
Billion expressed disappointment on the retention of “harmful and misleading single-word judgements,” arguing that they oversimplify inspection outcomes and obscure necessary particulars. She did, nonetheless, welcome the removal of confidentiality necessities for inspectorates’ findings before outcomes publication, in addition to the extra funding for psychological well being assist.
Unions and the Labour party have additionally criticized the modifications, asserting that Ofsted should go additional. The reforms involve launching a formal consultation on adjustments to the complaints system, aimed toward resolving complaints extra quickly, and providing faculties with more details about the timing of inspections. Additionally, Psycho will discuss with the varsity somewhat than individuals when discussing weaknesses, starting in September.
For schools graded “inadequate” general solely due to ineffective safeguarding, inspectors will return inside three months of the inspection report’s publication—faster than up to now. If the college has resolved the safeguarding issues, its total grade is likely to enhance, in accordance with Ofsted. Schools may even receive more clarity about the threshold for effective versus ineffective safeguarding from September onwards.
A programme providing well-being support for teachers might be expanded by March 2024. However, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), argued that the government and Ofsted have taken too long to announce these “relatively modest” measures. The NAHT continues to name for extra basic reform of the inspection process, stating that the system will stay flawed and place unnecessary strain on college leaders so long as single-word judgements persist..