The head refusing OFSTED

[Indigoshift]

Not seen a thread on this. Apologies if there us one.

AIBU to think Flora is very brave but good on her for standing up and showing that OFSTED is not fit for purpose?

news.sky.com/story/headteacher-to-refuse-ofsted-inspection-following-ruth-perry-death-12838983 Headteacher to refuse Ofsted inspection after death of fellow principal Ruth Perry 

I saw earlier that the inspection is going ahead.

There are 4 or 5 threads on it

Yes, bbc now reporting it is going ahead.
M

Yes. Power to her elbow. Nobody should lose their life because Ofsted uses a word on them. Ofsted should be ashamed of themselves.

Yes. Power to her elbow.

Ofsted are unfit for purpose. Nobody should be driven to suicide by their job. Ofsted should be ashamed.

Good for her, taking a very brave stand.

I even did a search. Mumsnet app maybe didn't bring it up.

I’m uncomfortable with the demonising of Ofsted. Yes they put pressure on schools, but schools do need to be accountable to someone, and for that to happen they need to be inspected, and sometimes that will result in criticism.

I know a primary school that has accidentally lost several children from its premises recently. They were found by helpful locals who recognised the uniform and returned the wandering children to the school site, but if Ofsted found out and said that the school requires urgent improvement, I’d applaud that because it’s current practices endanger children.

It is extremely sad about the headteacher who killed herself but it is not fair to blame Ofsted for that. The causes of suicide are not straighforward.

She has asked for nobody to show up for school according to ict with Mr P.

Schools do need to be accountable, but OFSTED are so outdated it's ridiculous.

I know someone who is an Ofsted inspector. He used to teach at my school and was an awful teacher. The kids found his lessons SO dull! And yet he can waltz into another school and demoralise the staff and all the hard work they do just based on observations over 2 days. It's an absolute joke.

Ofsted needs modernising. They should be working with schools on a regular basis and communicating with the senior staff, offering ongoing support for any problems.

Do other professions have the level of observation and scrutiny that teaching has? Do people watch doctors talking to patients, or watch lawyers with clients? Maybe they do.

I think it’s unlawful to refuse entry of ofsted isn’t it?
Good on her though.

It's the somewhat arbitrary nature of ofsted too. I know lesson visits aren't as much a thing as they used to be, but I remember the days of the crap teachers with the show stopper lessons, or everyone suddenly having to change their teaching style because 'ofsted like' or 'ofsted say'. So much wasted time trying to work out what ofsted wanted, but then they'd come in knowing already what to judge you, cos this year the focus was on grades d-c, or was it A to A*? Or grade 5, no 4. No, all of them. 2 levels of progress from the equally arbitrary Sat's. No, 4 levels of progress. 6!

No, we're not bothered about levels of progress anymore. We want to see how the kids whose parents are historical re enactors or astronauts are doing. Are they worse than their peers? Why? What are you doing wrong? Oh, better than their peers? Why aren't you catching their peers up?

It’s brought attention to the issue of OFSTED and them not being fit for purpose, which is very much needed. I hope it brings change.
Well done to the head. Obviously the inspection was always going to go ahead but she made her point well with maximum publicity.

The Children were being sexualised apparently because I e girl was doing the flossing dance at playtime.
I mean FFS!
like how is that even anything to do with the school anyway.
it’s this sort of bollocks that drives teachers mad.

Not sure if aviation counts as a genuine profession but there's plenty of observation and scrutiny - for flight crew (pilots) it usually a couple of days in the simulator every six months with the possibility of loss of licence if it goes wrong, plus an assessed flight on the aircraft at least every two years.

Similarly there's a lot of scrutiny, checking, and recurrent testing of Air Traffic Controllers and Cabin Crew and no doubt others in that industry.

It's terribly terribly sad.
Ofsted do weird huge power over schools.
The outstanding ones are rarely so. Given they are often in better areas patents who have a vested interest in maintaining the outstanding facade.

raineth do you work in a school? I sincerely hope not as you have literally no idea what you are talking about.

Ofsted rely on results and the show of smoke and mirrors that staff put on

I've worked in a number of schools one of the best was Satisfactory (that grade does not even exist now - sigh)- my current school could do so much better (leadership in their own echo chamber) .. outstanding!

The system should be 'good enough' .. needs support - and if you need support you should get it - not with the public report - just by support being provided long enough to get the work up to scratch

I've always ignored OFSTED ratings.

I watched a family member prep for a visit once.... couldn't believe it. Seemed to be purely about paperwork being filled correctly as opposed to quality of education...

And the outstanding school near me, is awful for any child that is ND or just doesn't follow normal educational demands, is cold and clincal...whereas the "needs improvement" school is amazing for all students, of any needs and even as an adult I feel warm and hopeful when I go.

Am aware this is anecdata and not representative....but still.

It certainly hasn't improved anything noticably in my 20 years of experience in schools, but it has been a massive factor in an abundance of stress, huge amounts of unnecessary extra work and so many extra hours spent focussing on guessing what they want- time away from focussing on what the kids really need. Sadly, I've seen loads of teachers leaving the profession because the stress caused by OFSTED is too overwhelming. It's time for a change. In fact, it is well overdue.

Yes. I've come to schools after a long career in finance and we were under scrutiny every day. Daily reporting of results, weekly performance reviews, monthly observations, more if deemed "necessary". The same kind of pressure as an ofsted visit every week.

That said, it's clear to me that much of what ofsted is looking for doesn't really help children. OTOH, I do think many of the schools downgraded in the the recent round had it coming. They had got complacent and there has been a big problem around peer on peer abuse etc that schools, especially those performing well academically, have been ignoring.

I imagine this head will be removed from her post. I admire her stand, but I can't see how it can end any other way.

When doctors and lawyers make mistakes they are sued or taken to a tribunal about their practise (and in the case of doctors their mistakes can cost and ruin lives)

As far as I know there aren't similar avenues of accountability for teachers.

Ofstead perhaps needs modernising but there does need to be accountability. There are some awful teachers out there.

Yes the NHS has the CQC which is the equivalent to OFSTEAD

I think the issue is that Ofsted are so political. They aren’t driven by what makes good learning or a good school experience. They’re driven by whatever fad has taken the fancy of the DfE recently- behaviour, three part lessons, mantle of the expert, enrichment, cultural
capital.

And the suspicion is that they go in with an agenda.

Schools are battling a behaviour problem on a massive scale at the moment. Children are addicted to screens, they exist almost entirely online when at home and they are exposed to media well beyond their ability to understand.

It’s a toxic perfect storm- low staff morale, wild behaviour issues every day and constantly shifting expectations from the DfE and Ofsted.

It is no wonder the wheels are coming off the system and staff are leaving in droves.