Stopping Ofsted inspections would not be in the best interests of pupils, chief inspector Amanda Spielman has said today after calls for the watchdog to pause visits following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
In a statement issued this morning, Ms Spielman said that the death of Ms Perry had led to an “understandable outpouring of grief and anger from many people in education”.
Three unions representing school leader and teacher members called for the inspectorate to put school visits on hold this week.
Reading Borough Council also called for a pause while a review is carried out into the system, while a county heads’ association told the watchdog its members plan to wear black armbands during inspections.
One executive head had even threatened not to allow inspectors into her school as reaction mounted earlier this week.
This reaction follows the family of Ms Perry saying that she took her own life following an Ofsted inspection of her school, Caversham Primary in Reading - which resulted in it being downgraded to “inadequate”.
Ms Spielman said: “Ruth Perry’s death was a tragedy. Our thoughts remain with Ruth’s family, friends and the school community at Caversham Primary. I am deeply sorry for their loss.”
She added: “We know that inspections can be challenging and we always aim to carry them out with sensitivity as well as professionalism. Our school inspectors are all former or serving school leaders.
“They understand the vital work headteachers do, and the pressures they are under. For so many colleagues, this was profoundly upsetting news to hear.”
Ms Spielman also acknowledged that it is “unquestionably a difficult time to be a headteacher”, adding that school leaders “worked hard during the pandemic to keep schools open and give the best education they could, while keeping vulnerable children safe”.
She added: “The sad news about Ruth has led to an understandable outpouring of grief and anger from many people in education. There have been suggestions about refusing to cooperate with inspections, and union calls to halt them entirely.
“I don’t believe that stopping or preventing inspections would be in children’s best interests. Our aim is to raise standards so that all children get a great education. It is an aim we share with every teacher in every school.”
She also said inspection looks at what pupils are being taught, assesses how well behaviour is being taught and managed, and checks that teachers know what to do if children are being abused or harmed.
Ofsted has ‘completely underestimated strength of feeling’
In response to Ms Spielman’s statement, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the watchdog had “completely underestimated the strength of feeling among educational professionals”.
He said that the “warm words and sympathy” in the statement were “welcome” but “simply not enough”.
“School leaders want to see tangible actions being taken to reduce the intolerable pressure that the current inspection regime places on everyone in schools, and they want to see those actions now.
“We are not against inspection per se, we simply believe that a fairer, more humane approach is possible. We also believe parents would support a new approach.”
Mr Whiteman added that the NAHT believes “this should be a watershed moment and Ofsted should look at this the same way too”.
“Now is the time to work together for a completely new approach to school inspection. Carrying on as normal is not an acceptable answer,” he said.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We have not asked Ofsted to halt inspections entirely, but merely to pause them to allow time to review their impact on the wellbeing of school and college leaders and teachers.”
He said that a short pause was a very moderate request and “would help Ofsted show the profession that it is listening”.
Mr Barton added: “The chief inspector acknowledges that reforming inspections to remove blunt and reductive one-word or two-word judgements is a legitimate debate, but there are no plans by Ofsted or the government to even consider this question as far as we know. There must surely be some reflection following this tragedy.”
‘Inconsistent, damaging and discriminatory’
The controversy over Ofsted inspection comes after widespread calls for inspection grades to be dropped.
In her statement, Ms Spielman added: ”The broader debate about reforming inspections to remove grades is a legitimate one, but it shouldn’t lose sight of how grades are currently used.
“They give parents a simple and accessible summary of a school’s strengths and weaknesses. They are also now used to guide government decisions about when to intervene in struggling schools. Any changes to the current system would have to meet the needs both of parents and of government.”
There has been widespread opposition to Ofsted following the events of the past week.
A petition calling for an inquiry into the handling of the Caversham Primary inspection has been signed by almost 200,000 people at the time of writing.
The Reading Primary Heads Association and Reading Secondary and College Leaders have called for an urgent review of inspections and for the four headline grades that Ofsted awards schools to be removed.
And the Suffolk Primary Headteachers’ Association has also called for urgent reform of inspection and how its findings are used. In a statement, it said: “Leaders agree that the system is inconsistent, damaging and discriminatory.”
It has said its members are considering a number of steps if they face Ofsted inspection, including wearing black armbands and holding a minute’s silence in memory of Ms Perry.
