Amanda Spielman said Ofsted would remain focused on improving the way it worked with schools and how inspections felt for school staff
By Vanessa Clarke
Education reporter
Stopping or preventing school inspections in England would be against “children’s best interests”, the chief inspector of Ofsted has said.
Amanda Spielman said they played an important role for schools and parents.
Unions have called for them to be paused, after head teacher Ruth Perry took her own life while waiting for a report that downgraded her school.
The government said Ofsted has a crucial role to play in upholding education standards.
Ms Spielman said the debate about reforming inspections to remove grades is a “legitimate one”, but added that “any changes to the current system would have to meet the needs both of parents and of government”.
Under the current system, schools are rated outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate after an inspection in England.
The gradings “give parents a simple and accessible summary of a school’s strengths and weaknesses” and are used to guide government decisions about when to intervene, Ms Spielman said.
But president of the National Association of Head Teachers Paul Gosling called for the “cliff-edge” grades to be scrapped, suggesting they are replaced with a list of what a school does well and what needs improving.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the one-word assessments do not give parents much information because schools are so complex.
He stopped short of calling on Ofsted to pause inspections but asked for an immediate review of its “one-size-fits-all” strategy. He also pointed to recruitment struggles, funding pressures and pandemic legacy issues as factors putting school leaders under extra strain.
Lisa Telling, a head teacher in Reading who knew Ms Perry well, said she had been under “enormous stress” before her death as Ofsted’s rules restricted her from sharing the school’s new “inadequate” rating with colleagues.
She told BBC Breakfast that Ms Perry had to bear the “world-destroying” verdict by herself for 54 days, saying head teachers live in fear of inspections as they can be “personally damaging”.
She added: “I know that when I had an inspection two-and-a-half weeks ago, I said to my daughter ‘if this inspection doesn’t go well, our lives might change, I might lose my job'”.
Ms Spielman said it would be wrong to say too much ahead of the coroner’s inquest but added that Ms Perry’s suicide “was met with great sadness at Ofsted”.
“Our school inspectors are all former or serving school leaders,” Ms Spielman said. “They understand the vital work head teachers do and the pressures they are under.”
Image source, PA Media
Some head teachers, including Flora Cooper, from Berkshire, are wearing black armbands during school inspections, following Ms Perry’s suicide
Ms Spielman acknowledged inspections “can be challenging” but said inspectors always aimed to conduct them “with sensitivity as well as professionalism”.
Ofsted aimed “to make inspections as collaborative and constructive as we can” and would remain focused on improving how it worked with schools and “how inspections feel for school staff”, she said.
She admitted it was a difficult time to be a head teacher, particularly since the pandemic, as absence was high, mental-health problems had increased, and “external support services are unable to meet increased demand”.
But it was important inspections continue as they play an important role for schools and parents, Ms Spielman added, saying: “It looks at what children are being taught, assesses how well behaviour is being taught and managed and checks that teachers know what to do if children are being abused or harmed.”
Darren Morgan, a primary school head teacher in Stockport, said there was a “feeling of grief and anger” in the profession and warned there could be more tragic cases if the system is not reformed.
He said the amount of pressure on school heads “is not sustainable”.
A Department for Education official said Ofsted had a crucial role to play in upholding education standards and ensuring children were safe in school.
“They provide independent, up to date evaluations on the quality of education, safeguarding, and leadership, which parents greatly rely on to give them confidence in choosing the right school for their child,” the official added.
