Ofsted staff surveys

[KnowYourOnions]

We recently had ofsted and ended up as requires improvement. The head is annoyed with comments from the staff questionnaires. He says people said unfair things about him and wants the culprits to meet him to discuss it.

I was one of those who said negative things about management in the questionnaires. I thought they were anonymous and confidential. Is there any way that they can find out exactly who wrote what beyond them making some informed guesses?

The atmosphere is horrible and I’m considering leaving as soon as possible.

Poor you op. I don't believe they can do any more than make an informed guess.
You would hope that you head receiving negative feedback would help him to reflect on his attitude and behaviour (which ironically we are asked to do after observations), not call people out for saying how they feel.
Well done for sticking to the truth. Find somewhere that values you.

Thanks sardines. I think what I wrote was sufficiently vague not to out me too much but I’m worried about it affecting my reference. Nothing was untrue. He just can’t see it.

I don’t know how/if he could find this out.

I certainly wouldn’t be meeting with him without my union rep in this circumstance.

I would hope the union reps would also put in a collective letter telling him that this is intimidatory and undermining of the supposedly confidential process.

I would hope the union reps would also put in a collective letter telling him that this is intimidatory and undermining of the supposedly confidential process.

That’s my next plan. It would be really good to know who else was honest in their feedback but I can’t find that out without saying I was one of them!

I read this again and laughed because it's just a rediculous scenario for leadership to be in.
Of course, you can't please everyone but if more than one person is saying the same thing then they should be appropriately addressing it, not lining up the next scape goat.
I think a lot of teachers are in the same boat with slt, currently. It's a shame they are not listening.
I would keep quiet. Hopefully the questionnaire responses will rattle them enough to make some positive changes.

We had this after a mock Ofsted. Everyone had to go in a see the headteacher and discuss their answers. It was in the days of paper surveys and SLT had analysised the handwriting to work out which staff had written what!

Rather infamously on MN staffroom , my school didn't conduct a staff survey. And Ofsted never even challenged them on this... in some ways that approach might be better for staff I guess but I am still cross.

Why do heads use their power in so many ways to either bully, intimidate or ,at the very least, pressure their staff?

And, spearatley, when my DCs were young their little school was Ofsteded and some parents wrote negative things about her in the parent survey. Ofsted did the classic thing of saying 'x number of people have raised concerns but we choose not to believe their valid points'

She wrote a letter to al parents shouting at us. I should have reported her. it just proved us all right. That school got an outstanding!

piggy that's exactly what happened I. Our recent ofsted. The inspector acknowledged that almost 2 thirds of staff had raised some issues but they felt it wasn't in line with what they saw across the school so they weren't going to look into it.
The head had managed to shop off all the students with poor behaviour (sen school so mostly violent students) and some of the staff who were opinionated to a school bowling trip. They never questionned it and so the bullying continues.

I know of a school where the staff were never given the ofsted questionnaire at all.

yup . Mine. See upthread!

We were given the survey and it was 'suggested' that certain issues were not to raised through this forum! School going for Outstanding. Fuck off - I am so sweary tonight!!!

The inspector acknowledged that almost 2 thirds of staff had raised some issues but they felt it wasn't in line with what they saw across the school so they weren't going to look into it.

Two thirds? And that doesn’t merit a bit of an investigation?

That is shocking. What is the point of OFSTED and their bloody questionnaires?

We’ve just had ofsted and it was pretty obvious they’d decided before they came what they were going to give us so the questionnaires were moot really. I did the staff questionnaire and was pretty brutal about the leadership (which is rubbish). I’m especially happy to be leaving now.

This is a clear case for getting the unions involved.

They once went through the cctv in my school to identify who was putting their questionnaires in the box - we thought it was an odd place to leave the box, turns out it was emptied as soon as someone put something in because the cctv alerted them. And then we got bollocked. I’m not sure the questionnaires made it to the inspectors

Thank goodness for electronic versions nowadays!

I don’t fill the electronic versions in because I don’t trust them not to be able to trace them back to your login. In fact, after the cctv debacle I’ve never filled one in again.

OMG pottering

Hopefully now with it being all online it is actually anonymous.

Has anyone had an inspection where the staff survey actually influenced anything in the report?

Obviously I haven't noble , but I read a report for a nearby school last week where the survey was mentioned in a non favourable way. The school got an RI and it seemed like the survey was used as another boot to kick the leadership with. I have heard the head is now being stepped down . It is sad really when you look at things form that perspective. He has led that school for 20 odd years.

That said, I still think it should be incumbent on Ofsted to ask questions of leaders of schools which mysteriously have no staff feedback.

I actually suspect in my school that SLT all filled in the survey. The answer as to why Ofsted did not query lack of survey in our school ahs been dodged several times. And that is because I think they did get some... I know that parental surveys have been completed by them before , after parents' evening and online.

Governor here of a school where the staff survey slated the head. We got rid of the head - Ofsted agreed that the HT had problems.