There is no magic bullet when it comes to school structure, chief inspector Amanda Spielman said today.
Speaking at the Confederation of School Trusts’ conference this morning, Ms Spielman praised how multi-academy trusts can support school improvement.
But commenting on the education secretary’s vision of having all schools joining a MAT and “moving away from the dual system we have at the moment”, she warned that “no structure is perfect or a magic bullet” and she said the watchdog is “agnostic” towards school structures.
Ms Spielman said: “Effective MATs certainly can provide resilience against failure. People are there to spot deterioration and to adjust it quickly. Trusts can also reduce the load on individual schools and accelerate the rate at which they can implement good things.
Ofsted ‘agnostic’ in multi-academy trusts debate
“Strong trusts help schools to move up a gear, if you like, and are quick to act if a school goes into reverse.
“So there are encouraging signs, but no structure is perfect or a magic bullet. Success still comes down to what happens on the ground.
“And for Ofsted’s part, our job is to remain agnostic about structures. We care about how good the education and safeguarding are.”
She added that different school models assign different responsibilities at different levels, and some things benefit from MAT-level direction, while others fit better with individual schools.
Ms Spielman said: “Despite the many benefits of being part of a trust, we know that things can and sometimes do go wrong. So it’s important that we have the right tools to recognise when that’s happening.”
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said: “Amanda Spielman is right that there is a conversation to be had about how we can help persistently weak schools to improve.
“It is our belief that strong and effective trusts do provide resilience against failure, as Amanda Spielman noted. This is because trusts have a collaborative framework that intentionally develops a knowledge-building approach across their schools.”
In his speech to the NAHT school leaders’ union’s annual general meeting, Paul Whiteman, the union’s general secretary, said: “Let’s not get distracted by debates over structure. We must support and fund schools wherever they are - multi-academy trusts or local authorities.
“We strongly disagree with the government that there is no good practice to be found in local authorities. The pandemic shows us that great schools exist wherever you look. Equally innovative and responsive.
“Pupils and parents don’t care about structures. They care about standards. Structures and standards are not the same thing.”
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