The fight back against OFSTED has begun - support needed

[wantmorenow]

Just saw this and it seems genuine and if so then bloody marvellous. Let's hope this is the rallying call to changes with immediate effect. This has been posted today. A Headteacher has refused access to Ofsted tomorrow, I assume in the wake of the coverage of Ruth Perry's death.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4765105-ofsted-needs-to-be-abolished-trigger-warning?page=1

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4765712-ofsted-needs-to-be-abolished-further-details

twitter.com/FloraSCooper/status/1637760884243066881

I've just had the call.
I've refused entry.
This is an interesting phone call.
Doing this for everyone for our school staff everywhere!

School asking for support in person tomorrow 8am if local.

A safeguarding concern is an automatic inadeqate even if all other areas were good/outstanding. The tightening up of procedures at Ruth's school would have been pciked up on a montiring visit and a re-inspection would have led to a Good quite quickly. It's ashame she felt so under pressure by the result but it would have been very short lived.

Perhaps something does need to change.

But this will disadvantage the situation rather than add any advantage.

She has mistimed her “campaign” spectacularly.

She has put her pupils potentially at risk

She now seems desperate for support.

She doesn’t seem to have consulted any of her team or parents before plunging her school in to this fight

Me? What? Wrong person. I was suss about how she’d been posting about ofsted so much lately is all, but it seems I’m just suspicious.

What? Monitoring visits are usually 12 months later, how is that ‘short lived’??

She hasn’t mistimed it, quite the opposite - she is harnessing what most heads and school staff are feeling at the moment.

To be honest Blair totally funked education. Dumbed down, group work, lack of knowledge, highly overinflated btecs etc. Gove did a very good thing bringing back rigour. We've climbed from 29th in 2016 to 11th today in the pisa. Scotland is so bad they withdrew from pisa.

www.naht.org.uk/News/Latest-comments/Press-room/ArtMID/558/ArticleID/2005/preview/true/School-leaders-call-for-pause-on-Ofsted-inspections-after-Ruth-Perry-tragedy

On the other hand, you spend all weekend saying publicly there should be a boycott. You discuss this with other heads

then on Monday you get the call that you’re where they are coming next. Someone has to be the first.

She has acted hastily. The 'call to arms' on Twitter is concerning and I wonder what children are going to be arriving to tomorrow.

I have seen a lot of people saying they are going tomorrow at 8am to 'support' at the HT's request. What are they going to do? Stand on the pavement outside (blocking the kids from getting into the school?). They surely won't be allowed on the grounds? If the inspectors arrive are they going to physically stop them from entering? Jeer at them?

She has now asked people not to come to the school which is definitely for the best in my opinion.

She hasn’t acted hastily. She has done the right thing at exactly the right time. It’s like a dam has burst for headteachers. And yes, someone has to be first.

Why would anyone ‘jeer’? There’s nothing wrong with peaceful protest.

There is a difference between protest and blocking inspectors. She was v stupid to put it out there. All the nutters who love a violent protest will piggy back on this and she'll have no control in the morning. Inadequate here we come!

Update - head has tweeted not to support in person
Please can people not come to school now in the morning.

I have to protect our children, our staff and our community.
Please for the protection of our children and staff.
twitter.com/FloraSCooper/with_replies

Let’s see how it goes

And you still think timed perfectly and not acted hastily an hour after her ofsted call? @Maximo2

The nutters won't listen and will come anyway. Stupid move.

That's a cat that's very difficult to stuff back into the bag. She basically put out a klaxon call to every anti-establishment troublemaker within travelling distance and I would put money on it that a relatively decent number of them will still attend in person.

The more I read about this Head, the more I think she needs to be inspected. She seems to have no foresight or no sense of responsibility.

Timed perfectly, yes. Now see what happens as a result. It’s the beginning of something immense.

I imagine that the Governors will meet and suspend her tonight.

Yep. She was really stupid to put out a nationwide call for people to turn up. To be honest, I have to question her judgement in general because of that. Which is a shame because I really want to support her action. Btu that was a really bad error of judgment.

You did get that she’s just had to back down and say only virtual support?

Ofsted have been around since 1992 with the purpose of raising standards in education and they haven't succeeded. They still find many schools to be sub-par though I suppose if all schools were good, they'd no longer be needed.

Ultimately schools do need someone checking up on them, but ofsted is woefully inadequate in that they move the goal posts very frequently, come in with a bias as to what makes a good teaching style (which they aren't meant to do) and appear to be blind to the different challenges certain schools face.

They are also very politically driven and how a school does can vary widely depending on who is on the inspection team. I've seen schools fail due to the behaviour of a child with sen - behaviour that would in my eyes be perfectly acceptable. The school that's in the news at the moment - they took issue with kids flossing on the yard. The whole system needs an overhaul.

Ok. I am potentially for an organised union backed boycott.

A single head going out on a limb and inviting the world and it's dog via twitter, not so much. That's reckless, potentially dangerous in terms of what ensues and the impact on kids and I don't know it reflects well in terms of her judgement.

Putting a house party invite out on social media isn't bright and this is on a par with it.

It smacks of a head teacher politicising her school and trying to make a name for herself. I wouldn't be impressed if I had a kid at the school. I would be concerned about what will happen tomorrow.