To think Ofsted is a pile of shit and not fit for purpose

[Bumdealoftheweek]

I know the debate around Ofsted is rife at present and that there have been other threads on this but I am so angry right now.

A school I have an association with has just been Ofsteded and I have spoken to one of their Governors. She said it was a very thorough interview and the level of questioning was quite intense. I find it so ridiculous that Governors have such a high level of accountability when it comes to schools and that schools are judged on their Governing Body yet many struggle to recruit Governors (unsurprisingly) and have no control over their capability and capacity.

The school in question is in a rural area and has been in RI for a number of years. A huge amount of the issues they face are not within their control and a result of local and national policy. They have a big problem with teacher recruitment - it's a deprived area with no public transport links and very little for young professionals (few community groups/sports teams/ leisure facilities etc) or families. In short, nothing which would attract young, ambitious recruits. There are very few opportunities in the town for other employment meaning making this harder if people are part of a couple.

The nearest other secondaries are 30 minutes away - many people in the town choose to send their kids out of town (requiring the need to transport them or pay for transport) which leaves a difficult demographic to cater for and a falling roll which has a big impact on budgets. This further impacts what the school can offer, compounding any existing problems. This has been ongoing since the first RI judgement was imposed and highlights how impactful and negative these judgements can be on whole communities - why would any aspirational families want to move to a town with a failing school and a dying town with no amenities?

The whole thing needs overhauling and yet the accountability remains with the individual schools. It's bullshit.

Yes, schools shouldn't be judged on national issues like teacher shortages, only on what is under their control

Well, it’s never been a level playing field. I speak from experience of at least a dozen inspections. And the goal posts regularly change.

The school I enjoyed working in the most was nearly always RI, for reasons that were really not connected to the quality of teaching and learning, but as you mention, much to do with external factors.

It was, for most of the time I was there, a supportive environment, with great support from colleagues. When statistics matter more than people, it’s always going to be unfair.

But that issue has a huge impact on their teaching and learning provision which is what they are judged on.

I was agreeing with you but never mind

Convovulus Sorry, I read it wrongly!

I agree
You'll be made an academy in the blink of an eye
That's the goal as far as I can see

What is the point of having a school governing body if they aren't going to be at times judged/scrutinised on how they work? Governors are there to hold the executive leadership of the school to account for decision making and educational standards, to ensure the public money spent by the school is used appropriately, and to provide "strategic direction" for the school. The governing board is legally accountable for the school.

Being a school governor isn't like agreeing to help out with the PTA and running a cake sale. It's a legally accountable role. The chair of governors has their name printed on the Ofsted inspection report next to the headteacher, because they are part of the senior leadership of the school.

So yes, inspectors will have some questions about how governors perform their oversight, how much do they know about the school, do they take the headteacher's word for everything or do they dig down into the data and documents themselves, is the safeguarding lead governor involved in reviewing what happens to safeguarding referrals, how the safeguarding policy is implemented, are children being kept safe in practice.

Have the tories massively underfunded schools, has the DfE been changing education ministers every five minutes, is there a teacher recruitment crisis, are special educational needs not being met, all yes. But none of that means governors should be given a free pass just because they're volunteers and not many people want to do it.

It's not the fact that schools shouldn't have Governing Bodies but more that this role is now beyond the scope of a volunteer. I say this as a Chair of Governors across a Federation of schools. Some of the decisions we/I have to make are way above those that should be made by someone who has no expertise. I'm aware that these decisions are made with the advice of others but the fact that we are accountable for them is ridiculous. Who the hell am I to recruit a new Headteacher with no HR/recruitment experience? It is yet another cop out for the Government to put responsibility onto others rather than provide the actual resources themselves.

Chair of governors (and ex headteacher) here. I wonder if people know that Ofsted can put a school into Inadequate if one of the governors has not completed specific training, such as safeguarding?

We have a ( recently voted on ) parents governor whom we simply cannot persuade to do the necessary online training courses. We're tearing our hair out. But they were voted in by other parents and we cannot shift them.

That's not right - is it?

I’ve consulted for Ofsted.

I provided advice on their measurement metrics.

I was in Work based learning for post 16.

The whole thing is a game. A sick game.

Prior to inspection, they review the performance stats and that defines the grade for the inspection as a starting point. The lead inspector and the most senior inspector who is responsible for the stats initiate the inspection and then the senior inspector goes into a meeting with the data lead from the organisation. They are supposed to agree on the stats (otherwise the inspection is flawed from day 1).

in our meeting - I explicitly told them our stats we didn’t agree were accurate. At the end of the inspection. We challenged the outcome as they hadn’t accepted our argument. They refused to accept that we had told them the stats were wrong. I had recorded the discussion discreetly. Having been involved in their inspections over 2 decades I knew they lie. I took precautions.

Thankfully I had the evidence. Otherwise I’d have lost my job. CEO and Lead inspector went into a different meeting and agreed a solution.

later on in life, i was leading on the handling of inspections. I’ve never had less than a ‘good’. They are worthless inspections and I’m only surprised that this is the first time it’s hit the headlines for the artificial measures they do.

Stats and Buzzwords. In one inspection one of our assessors who was a champion of all things safeguarding, one of the best I’ve ever know, was upto date on the latest govt initiative which at the time was every child matters. What that assessor did was perfect, but they couldn’t recite the very new initiative…. They marked the assessor down. Then every time they spoke with any other assessor, they got quizzed on the same thing.

I’m glad I left education. Too old for their s**t.

OFSTED is a game and the dice is weighted, the cards are dodgy and they're openly cheating a lot of time. Did anyone see the head of OFSTED on Laura Kuenssberg's Sunday show this week? She couldn't even muster up the right facial expression to look sympathetic about Ruth Perry. Just kept parroting that staff had no need to get stressed about inspections and took no responsibility for the stress inflicted and where that could lead. It was a terrible look for the organisation.

I've been a governor for 30 years in various schools.

@VickyEadieofThigh if you are a maintained school, even elected parent governors can be removed or suspended by the GB, subject to the relevant processes. Removal and suspension are distinct processes. Look at the 2017 amendment of the Constitution Regulations 2012 and the Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations 2013, or your governance professional or LA can advise.

The role of governors is significantly downplayed in the latest Ofsted framework, with no separate judgement for governance like there used to be. Rumour has it that this is because so many are hopeless and heads were fed up of them letting the side down! This doesn't stop them getting thoroughly interrogated of course during an inspection.

I absolutely agree that the level of responsibility is absurd for volunteers, for things like HT recruitment, exclusions, staff disciplinaries etc. If you're in a good LA or subscribe to another support organisation you might have a professional to guide you but many times governors are completely on their own because LA services have been so cut back. This can lead to breaches of the law.

So no wonder people don't want to do it. It's a shame because it can be incredibly rewarding, I certainly have found it so, on the whole.

Your title sums it up perfectly and leaves me with nothing else to add.

YANBU... it is absolute bollocks and not worth the paper it's written on. I have seen so many wonderful schools downgraded, schools that should be outstanding are not for ridiculous reasons, and other schools given outstanding purely because the head is/was an inspector and knows how to play the game (I worked for many years as an advisory teacher in an inner city urban area - first hand experience of this!!) I have also seen countless teachers and headteachers mental health destroyed by these lunatic inspectors who are on nothing more than power trips. Something has to change!

For teachers (or anyone else) who would like to contribute towards legal action, please see link below (recommended donation is £1)

https://www.gofundme.com/f/action-against-ofsted-and-memorial-to-ruth-perry

Ofsted is an utter shit show

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4770463-to-try-and-give-an-ofsted-analogy-to-help-people-understand-better

here is my ofsted thread

About ten years ago, GP surgeries in England were subjected to inspection by the care quality commission. Something similar applies to nursing and care homes. Training on the possible expectations and areas on possible concerns were highlighted to those who wished to attend training.

A number of inspections revealed some problems - from rats in a neighbouring building (irrelevant) to serious failings in surgeries. I recall a number of practice managers left before this. I do not recall suicides or sackings of either GPS or managers as this regime continues. I do not see complaints about this inspection regime in the media.

What is different about the inspection times in schools compared to primary care?

Excellent OP in the thread 👍🏻