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Amanda Spielman has dismissed solutions that strain from Ofsted is contributing to an exodus of headteachers, as a substitute blaming consultants “making an attempt to make individuals afraid and sad”.
The chief inspector sat down with Colleges Week to debate the watchdog’s new five-year technique and challenges going through faculties.
It’s exhausting for us to tally the narrative that comes again from sure quarters which are violently against inspection in precept, with what we really get from individuals we work with straight
New figures present extra heads are leaving the career.
Requested whether or not Ofsted contributes to that, Spielman stated: “It’s exhausting for us to tally the narrative that comes again from sure quarters which are violently against inspection in precept, with what we really get from individuals we work with straight.”
She stated post-inspection suggestions was that faculties “overwhelmingly” discovered them to be honest and constructive, that means there was an “irreconcilable hole within the narrative”.
An Ofsted survey discovered 90 per cent of colleges visited between September and November final 12 months stated their inspection would assist to enhance provision. However faculties given higher grades are more likely to reply.
“I hear quite a lot of adverse tales spun round,” Spielman stated. “There are individuals with vested pursuits in making an attempt to make individuals afraid and sad. I want there weren’t, however we’ve seen for years a little bit of an business in promoting consultancy providers round Ofsted.
“There are people who find themselves there to generate profits out of any concern of Ofsted.”
Longer Ofsted inspections ‘extra satisfying experiences’
Regardless of the criticisms, Ofsted’s technique outlined how extra faculties might be getting longer inspections from this month.
Presently, only one sixth of inspections for ‘good’ faculties are two-day part 8 inspections – most are shorter, one-day part 5 visits.
Now, a 3rd of ‘good’ college inspections might be full, graded ones. This is able to enable for “extra time for skilled dialogue and evidence-gathering”.
Spielman stated this was unlikely to influence the “general profile of judgments in any explicit path”. It will be a “extra satisfying expertise on each side” as inspectors and faculties might dive into extra depth, she stated.
Julie McCulloch, the director of coverage on the Affiliation of Colleges and School Leaders, stated whereas faculties might exhibit their strengths in additional element, “extra intensive” inspections “have the potential to trigger leaders and lecturers extra anxiousness”.
All quiet on Tory guarantees to beef up inspectorate
Boris Johnson pledged through the election marketing campaign in November 2019 to increase inspections from two to 3 days. He additionally promised trialling “no discover” visits.
Spielman was quizzed on the progress of those pledges through the Pageant of Schooling in June 2021, admitting she “couldn’t bear in mind” the final time they had been mentioned with the federal government.
The pledges didn’t characteristic in Ofsted’s five-year technique and the chief inspector stated extension plans had “disappeared into … dealing with Covid”.
She additionally confirmed no funding was put aside for this growth through the autumn spending overview, suggesting it’s unlikely to return into fruition anytime within the close to future.
Spielman: Superb to label faculties, however not youngsters
Throughout her keynote speech on the Colleges and Academies Present on Wednesday, Spielman warned faculties towards labelling youngsters “unnecessarily” as “adverse labels can result in adverse perceptions and decrease expectations”.
Many within the sector mocked the irony of the remark, given Ofsted’s position in grading faculties.
When challenged on this, Spielman stated: “A college isn’t a person, a toddler is a person firstly of their lives.”
She was making an attempt to push the give attention to serving to a toddler catch-up after Covid “earlier than they transfer to place a label on them”.
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