First headteacher refuses to be Ofsteded in boycott

[noblegiraffe]

There has been talk on twitter over the weekend of a boycott of Ofsted in protest at its ridiculous system of stressful high-stakes inspections and public shaming, following the suicide of a headteacher in January after her outstanding primary was downgraded to inadequate.

This morning the first brave headteacher has put her head above the parapet. Ofsted called to notify of an inspection tomorrow and the head said no.

twitter.com/florascooper/status/1637760884243066881?s=46&t=vKGM6xpoeW3wdlaVVVagQA

She is calling for people to come to the school tomorrow morning to support the boycott (details on twitter).

I hope this becomes the catalyst for a serious review and reform of the inspection system.

@BadlydoneHelen to be fair there are quite a few Secondary school teachers currently teaching subjects that aren't their specialism, due to lack of teachers/funding - welcome to underfunded schools in England!

That's not what I mean, unless we've reached the utterly absurd point of having to say that different personalities are different factors. What I mean is that two people can face the same external factors and respond very differently.

Wow!
Well done to that HT… about time too!

They did check references and DBS. But not (apparently*) check the person's home country's records.

I've not seen the full story yet, but this is what's being reported in random places on the 'net.

Yes. I’m teaching A-level psychology this year. I only have an A-level it it myself (B grade).

It there has to be an in between. Why do we need grades or ratings? Evidence shows that don’t improve children’s outcomes or schools?

Again, no one is saying no accountability. Teachers, heads and other shave been asking for ofsted to be overhauled for years and years. This may be what is needed.

I don’t know a single teacher acting in glee over his.

I do know several excellent teachers who have all left the profession because of the stress and pressure of performing for ofsted. Not just in the inspection but in between as schools ah e to be ready at any moment with ridiculous amounts of paperwork etc.

That’s not terribly reassuring, to be fair @saraclara !

I actually agree with a lot of this. But I don't think anyone is saying inspections shouldn't happen, rather that they should be conducted more productively and understandingly.
Personally I'd take issue with an entire rating being inadequate on the basis of one category, but accept that you don't..
I very much take issue with her being told that she wasn't allowed to talk to anyone about it until the report was published. If she'd been able to address the issues with her governors and work out a way forward instead of being left on her own with the fear of losing her job, things might have been very different. It's the way in which the inspections are conducted that seems to me to be so very cruel and so very unnecessary. Even from a pragmatic point of view it would surely be better for the school community to address issues in November, when they come up, rather than wait till mid March for the publication of the report.

And there are loads of teachers delighted and gleeful. Not about the death, of course. About OFSTED being refused entry to a school.

It's in the Sunday Times as well as random places on the net. It appears the home country didn't have records.

Haven't RTFT, responding as a concerned parent.

I support Flora's stance.

No-one should have to go to work in fear.

Schools should be inspected but not at the cost of teaching staff's mental health.

#RuthPerry

Personally I'd take issue with an entire rating being inadequate on the basis of one category

I wouldn’t disagree if it was that reading needed improvement, or the SEN provision was weak. But not safeguarding. It underpins everything else.

It does not have to be abolished . We have an annual inspection by a customer every year and it was brutal and you risk being taken off their supplier list . Then a new manager came is and they said treat the inspection as support and guidance and you have a plan to rectify problems and then a final sign off . Tbh everyone relaxed , and cooperation improved as did scores .

@blackpearwhitelilies I don’t know what the procedure is - I’m not a head (which I and everyone else is probably profoundly grateful for!) but I don’t think we can just say ah well, no records for the last five years (or however long.) I mean, someone could have spent that time locked up for sexual offences against children!

This is simply not true. With less than 24 hours' notice and a focus on where today fits into the big picture, it's impossible to have "perfect lesson plans"
And Bob is just as likely to tell someone to fuck off on an inspection day as on any other.

Really hope this brave woman gets the support she needs with this.

My ds school recently received a scathing ofsted report which has been devastating for the staff and is generally considered to be unwarranted by the parents I've spoken to.

My DC must have been lying to me then, dammit.

It absolutely needed addressing and OFSTED was right to point it out and fail them on that specific area. But in the past, one error would not write off a school as inadequate, when every other aspect was good and there was so much to praise in the report.

And of course, it's the Local authority HR department (or the academy trust) that actually carries out this emplyment admin. So they carry the can too. More so because that's their actual job! They have a team of HR people whose role this is. But it's the head of the school, whose main job it is to ensure a good education for the children, that got the take down.

You also have to do ‘right to work’ checks via the government website. The problem is, the requirements for safer recruitment change all the time and it’s hard to keep up with those changes - they are often not clearly communicated. I honestly don’t have a clue about the requirement to check social media profiles. I received one email about it, suggesting that it might be necessary to use an umbrella company to do the check, but have seen nothing since.

The information sent out by the DfE is often convoluted, confusing and contradictory - half of the issues are their doing.

I'm afraid they have. It's been a lunchtime phone call the day before, for years now.

@Canthave2manycats lots of schools do Mocksteads now with other agencies/schools coming in and inspecting as part of the preparation. So it could have been that?

It isn’t a minor error though. It isn’t just something like a minor detail on paperwork or not adhering to a policy very well.

I know I sound a bit ranty here but I grew up in a time before safeguarding and unfortunately there are characters who will be attracted to work in schools to harm those in them. That’s had consequences that have been devastating in the past and the system we have now is supposed to be robust and thorough in checking out someone’s past, at least.

I mean, no one’s going to say ‘it’s a brilliant school apart from the paedophile in Year 3.’ But that’s the reality of what could have happened here - that’s chilling.

Really ? What is the point of that question .

aA lot of heads and staff maybe extremely stressed and ill because of the way the inspections are done is that not enough ?

the fact is in that particular school it appears that the parents and children and teachers were happy with the school , but that counts for nothing .

Ofsted is an horrendous, unpleasant experience for pupils, teachers, and professional staff. Of course schools should be accountable but Ofsted would be better placed as a critical friend, providing support and challenge instead of judging and labelling. The four grades are meaningless, and reflect only artificial discussions and behaviours - like taking an exam you’re not allowed to revise for and hoping it goes well on the day. You might get lucky and all will go well, but it only takes one or two things to go wrong and the whole thing can start to unravel. Ofsted should be working with schools, not against them.

And Bob should be able to, because that's real and happens every day. Inspectors shouldn't be looking for perfect lesson plans on a given day. They should be focussing on ensuring that lesson plans are consistently good.

DC 'missed out' on being Ofsteded, as the inspection had taken place just before they joined one school and just after they joined another, but there was a long lead-in for each. She refers to the stress friends are under doing prep.