I’ve seen it also as an Ofsted inspector. I no longer have the heart to do it any more and so I gave up several years ago. I became entirely disillusioned even though I thought I was making a difference. You can read why Ofsted forced my hand here. But what used to frustrate me more than anything was having to be party to a decision to judge a "wealthy" school "outstanding" when I knew that some of the teachers in the school would never be able to cope in mine, as good as they might have been.
These teachers were fortunate. Their children turned up fed, watered, motivated, loved, cared for, with a head full of cultural experiences and a heart full of hope. On the whole, these teachers didn’t really have to worry about rates of progress for a dozen different ethnic groups, non-English speakers, SEND pupils, traveller families, 60 per cent-plus free school meals, low attainers, CP and Prevent referrals, persistent absence or a revolving door of new admissions due to high rates of pupil mobility. For them, it’s pretty much a case of boy/girl and that’s it. I can think of several "outstanding" schools I inspected where children did well not as a result of good teaching, but despite it.
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