To think criticisms of the new Ofsted ratings are self-serving?

[SmokeRingsOfMyMind]

Obviously the suicide of Ruth Perry was very sad and distressing. But the teaching unions appear to be using that tragedy as a way to avoid proper scrutiny of school performance by Ofsted. The new, more detailed system proposed looks perfectly sensible to me. I'm sure Ofsted could improve inspection quality, but a lot of the commentary about how stressful it is seems nonsensical. All professionals need to be able to cope with external verification of performance from time to time, don't they?

I can't see the date on that article, but there was an inquest which said that Ofsted contributed towards the suicide of Ruth Perry.

Perhaps you should tell the coroner about the Samaritans guidelines.

It was dated 2 May 2023

Thanks. The inquest reported in December 2023.

In addition to this, even social services does unannounced spot checks in serious cases. Whenever there is children's welfare as a concern I think it makes sense to not give warning, regulatory or safeguarding bodies are meant to be protecting children and making sure they are being adequately cared for, this includes receiving an adequate eduction to set them up for life.
Really I don't think there should be any advance notice, it should be a case of turn up and see the school as it is.

I was a teacher in secondary education and HoD for 20 years. I worked in a few schools during that time and the leadership made a big difference. I didn't feel particularly stressed during Ofsted. I was very organised so tended to not get stressed but I know many very good teachers who did. Looking at results posted year on year is more accurate than looking at a snap shot in time of 2 days.

The big problem with Ofsted is the "swooping and leaving". If they came in, judged, and offered recommendations AND support to improve, I don't think anybody reasonable could object. Much like everything in education atm... there's no fucking support!

What were the inclusion policies and what percentage of pupils had AN/LDs etc?
My autistic DD was in a S&L unit in a mainstream school. We were devastated for the Head when the school was given a really low rating and the comments didn't reflect the work put in by the Staff. Many pupils flourished there. But it was the sort of school were parents would fight in the playground and scoring was more important than getting their children to school. Teachers worked bloody hard. Ofstead should be able to be honest about the demographic of a school and the lack of backup on wider social issues.

What is the difference between ‘secure’ and ‘strong’? These seem too close for comfort. Do we need ‘exemplary’ at all? Having this top grade will just act like the previous ‘outstanding’ one, surely?