There are two separate - but not unrelated - Ofsted news stories running today. The first covers the outcomes of chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver’s Big Listen consultation.

The second outlines the findings of Dame Christine Gilbert’s report following an independent review into Ofsted, commissioned after an inquest concluded that a critical inspection “contributed” to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

Dame Christine’s report paints a deeply damning picture of Ofsted that it will be hard for education secretary Bridget Phillipson to ignore.

The report focuses on the culture of Ofsted, the negative and stressful impact it has on school leaders and staff, the inconsistency between inspections and the lack of constructive advice about how schools can improve.

The problem is that not all of this can be tackled in the actions that immediately come out of The Big Listen exercise because the criticisms are about culture and the negative dispositions of some inspectors. Those matters will not be resolved by policy and structural change alone.

Ofsted changes are positive

When looking at the changes that Sir Martyn has outlined in response to the Big Listen, we must view them in the light of the depiction of the unkind, uncaring culture painted by the Gilbert report.

A number of the changes will go a small way towards address how stressful Ofsted is for schools.

Knowing, for instance, that the dreaded call will only arrive on a Monday provides relief on four out of five working days in the week.

However, it does not take the feeling of dread away from those waiting for weeks, months and, in some cases, years for this call.

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It will a be a fairer system when local area data, not just national data, is used to inform judgements about performance because there are huge differences between areas, in terms of contexts and cohorts, that are not currently considered when only national comparisons are made.

It is also a positive move that schools will be evaluated on how inclusive they are. We can only hope that this stops some rogue schools signalling to families that they do not have excellent provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities in comparison with other local comprehensives.

This is a sharp practice that impacts on results and school budgets, and Ofsted focusing on it may be a way to eradicate it.

The new grace period for schools that need to fix an aspect of their safeguarding administration is also to be welcomed. It was ridiculous that administrative errors could impact on an Ofsted judgement when those errors could so easily and speedily be resolved.

But culture change is needed

All of these changes are positive, but ultimately school leaders themselves will need to judge whether the culture of Ofsted and its consistency of approach have genuinely improved.

If it remains true that particular inspectors retain their reputation for harsh judgements, then inspection will still feel like a high-stress, high-stakes situation.

Ofsted needs to clean up its culture: become kinder, fairer and more reflective. It still has a long way to go.

Caroline Derbyshire is chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, and executive headteacher and chief executive at Saffron Academy Trust

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