Ofsted is seen as “not fit for purpose” and colleges ought to “self-evaluate their progress” as a substitute, an inquiry has mentioned.
The Beyond Ofsted inquiry into the training inspectorate for England mentioned it discovered Ofsted has a “detrimental impact” that’s perceived by some as “toxic” – and known as for “transformational change”.
The inquiry chairman, Lord Jim Knight, mentioned Ofsted has “lost the trust of the teaching profession, and increasingly of parents”.
The inquiry was launched in April amid requires the inspectorate to revamp its faculty rankings system – which makes use of one-word judgements – after the loss of life of headteacher Ruth Perry in January.
Ms Perry’s household mentioned she took her personal life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest score to its lowest over safeguarding considerations.
Instead of the score system, the inquiry says colleges might “self-evaluate their progress” and work long-term with an exterior “school improvement partner”.
The associate would validate and help the varsity to ship an motion plan and fogeys could be supplied with helpful info as a substitute of a single-word judgement.
Lord Knight mentioned: “This would produce an action plan for governance and the school community to understand what is working well and what can be done better.”
The inquiry recommends an “immediate pause to routine inspections” to permit time for belief to be regained by the instructing occupation, however inspections would proceed to feed again to the Department of Education on the impression of its insurance policies.
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Ofsted inspections ‘excessive stakes’
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A Department for Education spokesperson advised the BBC it desires “inspections to be a constructive experience for school staff”.
“Our inspectors are all former or current school leaders and well understand the nature and pressures of the work,” the spokesperson mentioned.
“Ofsted has a crucial role in providing a regular, independent evaluation of every school, providing reassurance to parents that pupils are receiving the high-quality education they deserve and are being kept safe.”
The Institute for Public Policy Research mentioned “overly simplistic” faculty inspection judgements, corresponding to insufficient or wants enchancment, usually set off abrupt modifications to administration.
The thinktank mentioned this fuelled a “football manager culture” in colleges of firing headteachers.
Source: information.sky.com”
