AIBU in feeling a bit sorry for headteachers in failing schools?

[JakeBullet]

Perhaps I am being a bit unreasonable but I can't help feeling sorry for some headteachers when OFSTED deliver the ultimate blow.

My old school haa just been deemed "inadequate" and been put into special measures. The HT has been head for the paat 23 years. He has seen the school through some very difficult times and only this year has OFSTED rated the school as "inadequate".

The local newspaper has just absolutely gone to town on him, as has the local authority who have been quoted as saying that "he has let students, parents and the LA down".

WTF? He has been there for 23 years, his sum total of worth muat surely be on the years when the achool was deemed "Good with Outstanding features".

I accept that if the school has gine downhill in recent years he may have failed to address this.....but to condemn a man with a long history of good leadership and management seems veru very harsh. I will definitely be writing to the local paper about their coverage which seems very anti the locap schools.

He has resigned. ...which I am guessing is the right thing to do in these situations but to have his career effectively ended with no word of thanks for the many years he provided effective leadership seems harsh.

Maybe IABU but a word of thanks for his work during the times when the school was thriving would not have gone amiss.

Interestingly when the local paper asked parents for their comments they were overwhelmingly positive. That at least is something.

YANBU. And I suspect in most instances, it isn't the HT that has done anything 'wrong', rather OFSTED have changed the goalposts so many times that nobody is able to fully keep up, and so a good/inadequate judgement rests almost entirely on a) what the goalposts were at the time of the inspection and b) whether the inspection team like you or not.

I don't feel sorry for a HT that resigns because his school has gone down hill. It's like any field, he may have been a great leader historically but if he cant sustain the high standards then he needs to go. Regardless of historic achievements his now failing and needs to be replaced.

It's all political - fail schools & get them into academies where they carry on at much the same standards!!! feel sorry for the human debris, some great teachers & heads have been lost to education.

I mean, I'm sure there are some HTs and staff out there that really couldn't give a shit and are just marking time till retirement, but OFSTED don't seem to be the best people to find them.

Change inspections to completely no notice ones, just turn up and walk into a classroom to see what is happening, but lower the standards accordingly, as a current 'outstanding' lesson is too much to expect teachers to be doing all the time and can only really be done with knowledge that you are going to be observed. As it is, most teachers can pull a decent lesson out of their arse with 24 hours notice, or have one already planned for 'when OFSTED come'.

And stop with this 'all children must be learning at all times' nonsense, and the 3 part lesson while we're at it. Sometimes children need to practice something they've already learned. When you take driving lessons, you don't get in the car and have a 'warm up' (maybe you need to practice left and right? PE style physical warm up, to make sure you're ready for the rigours of pressing a pedal? What about a bit of learning directions in French? They're all about as much use to the main task as a typical maths warmup!). Do you then spend half an hour talking about the different pedals and what they do before you get a chance to actually press one of them? and at the end do you have a plenary so you can show the instructor that you have definitely learned something today? No, you just get the chance to practice, practice, practice, sometimes you practice the same thing several lessons in a row as it's the only way to actually learn!

LittlePeaPod- there's every chance that the school hasn't actually gone downhill, but OFSTED have changed their mind (again) about what they're looking for. Imagine you have been learning French at school, you're really good at it, but when you get to your exam you find it's all written in German. That's basically what OFSTED are doing.

HT get paid a LOT of money and the profession is very different to the one he entered a long time ago. If he has been HT for 23 years he may not have kept up with the game and that's what it is, a game.
I can understand where you're coming from if you have fond memories of him but he will have a massive pension and was obviously not up to the job.
OFSTED outcome is determined by how effective management is ultimately. So if management don't know what they are doing, they should go.

The HT will probably have been forced into resigning.

Schools are not a secure place to work anymore and ofsted/gove are not fair or consistent. The goal posts change constantly.

CrohnicallySick a HT is the equivalent of an MD in another business. They should have the skill set to adapt and manage change. Things and expectations change quickly in other fields and good leaders manage those changes effectively. That's why they are paid what they are paid. If they can't manage those changes effectively then the need to go. Other HT are managing to do it so instantly blaming OFSTED is a bit of a cope out IMO.

MrsLT- I have been through several inspections and found the thing that made most difference to the outcome is the pupils' ability. When we had a particular dire cohort one year (majority were below average on entering the school, higher number of children with SEN particularly behavioural, that sort of thing), when they left year 6 our SATs results took a dip. Our OFSTED rating was lower that year than any other. Even though, we could show that these pupils had actually made ground up during their time at our school, as they had been so far behind previously!

LittlePeaPod- but we don't know what the HT is supposed to adapt and change to! OFSTED change their minds every year or so. It isn't fair to expect staff to drastically change the way they work every year as it has a detrimental effect on the children. Other HTs couldn't give a shit about the children and so do it, but that makes them weaker IMHO. For that reason, when I sent DD to nursery, I ruled out the local 'outstanding' one and sent her to a 'satisfactory' one. You can only really get an 'outstanding' by ignoring what is best for the children and dropping everything to jump through OFSTED's hoops.

One school I worked in, I supported a pupil with behavioural problems. When OFSTED came, I was told to keep this pupil away from the inspectors, he was withdrawn from class and I had to babysit him on e computers or similar.

The school got 'good'.

I am not a teacher and this man wasnt head when I was there (I am quite old. ....47 now) but this school was THE school for parents to apply to.

I suppose I woikd have liked to see some thanks extended to him for his past work. I agree that when OFSTED deem a school to be inadequate then the HT is left in an untenable position....he/she HAS to go but except in rare cases therr needs to be some acknowledgement of any goid work they have done.

crohonically I also suspect that there are many schools OFSTED will never judge to be good no matter what the management or teachers do. It's all about DATA.
However, I have little sympathy for HT nowadays. They are very ruthless themselves.

Chronically my DS is autistic and the school have a fecking action plan for if he is having a meltdown and OFSTED are in!

To be fair they woukd have to be unlucky to have the two coincide, but thats how much thwy are scared to just leave it to chance!

but we dont know what the HT is supposed to adapt and change to! OFSTED change their minds every year or so. It isn't fair to expect staff to drastically change the way they work every year as it has a detrimental effect on the children

Again this happens in other fields all the time. Expectations and strategies change constantly and quickly. IMO it still comes down to the fact that good leadership teams have the ability and skills to manage these changes effectively. They are responsible for the strategy and they are responsible for ensuring their teams follow through. If they can't do it then they need to go.

I used to have a lot of sympathy for teachers BUT I really have now got to the point where I am losing that sympathy because from where I sit I am seeing less and less responsibility been taken and everything is blamed on OFSTED or Grove.

chronically agree.

I have to say (and I am a teacher, in middle management) that in my experience OFSTED usually get it right.

I don't mean every judgement they make is accurate or that there isn't a grey area between scraping a 'good' and requiring improvement, but certainly schools don't go into special measures overnight. They are led there. There are many contributing factors of course and I certainly don't think for a moment it is just the fault of the HT but the HT is the one with the final responsibility and is paid accordingly.

You are not being unreasonable to feel sorry for them though, or to wish the press would stay out. I feel so sorry for teachers who lose their. Jobs for reasons other than (say) child abuse or similar, it isn't a crime to be a poor teacher.

I don't now about this particular case, but Gove would never have been made chief education bod in a world where the ruling elite actually cared about education. In addition, OFSTED is a political tool more than anything else.

LittlePeaPod- in other fields, how long does it take for the effect of a change to show? Don't forget, children can be in the same school for 7 years- even longer if there is also a nursery attached. When changes are being made, it takes time to see if the changes have had effect or not. And making too many changes too close together will have a detrimental effect on the children.

Whereas let's say in engineering (my DH's job), he is told that from now on they are going to do x. Even the longest of his jobs are completed in days rather than years, therefore very few jobs are changed over partway through, and you can see the effects very quickly. If another thing is then changed, it is very unlikely that one part will be affected by both changes. And it's a clear decision as to which way is better.

Jake- surely an action plan is better than 'don't let the inspectors ever cast eye on LittleBullet'? And I would hope that the OFSTED action plan isn't too different from what would normally happen during a meltdown?

The new Ofsted framework is an utter pisser this year. I know loads of teachers who are decent and hardworking, who have received more than one outstanding observation who have, this year, been judged inadequate on the basis of a 20 minute observation, and for ridiculous reasons that do not make an inadequate teacher.

If you don't jump through silly hoops and also waste time coaching the kids to parrot the right stuff, you're crap. Morale has plummeted even further and several teachers I know have been signed off with stress or are thinking of quitting. Good teachers that we can't afford to lose.

Crohnically sick

You've made some very good points. (I used to spend whe driving lessons reversing round corners and doing 3 point turns!!)

I'm in the middle of HMI just now (I job-share ) and I can honestly say that it's very very stressful. And I work on an extremely successful school with an excellent reputation and results. Though we don't strictly speaking have league tables etc.

Ofsted have changed their criteria significantly. I have colleagues in so called "failing schools"and they are dedicated, fantastic teachers. Being a headteacher is, imho, one of the most exhausting, undervalued jobs of all. Our amazing headteacher gets into school at 7 am, rarely leaves before 7 pm ( plus has meetings several nights a week), works at least 1 full day at the weekend. It sickens me that our school could get a "requires improvement"rating simply because of low marks in ONE small cohort (we sometimes have year groups as small as 12). It is heartbreaking when dedicated Headteachers are forced out of their jobs and made to feel like this. Their job is immense and Ofsted make me sick. I speak as a teacher whose school received an Outstanding judgement last year so not through sour grapes.

Whole driving lessons!!!
Should have proofread that!!! Am actually lying in bed with sheer exhaustion! Apologies for not checking that post!

I went to the ASCL (Teaching Union for Head/Deputies) in March. One of the delegates put it to Wilshaw that Headship was tantamount to 'career suicide' these days. What is more worrying is the conflict of interest between Ofsted and some of the Academy chains - in the SE most Inspections are carried out by Tribal...who also happen to run Academy chains, so have a vested interest in schools being Inadequate, because then they can take them over! Who is inspecting the Inspectors?