Academy leaders in the north have given 100 per cent backing to Ofsted’s plans to focus school inspection on the curriculum.
However in the same poll they revealed major doubts about whether the inspectorate can actually deliver a curriculum-led framework - with 86 per cent saying they would not be able to.
There was also strong opposition to Ofsted’s plans for an inspector to arrive at 150 minutes notice for on-site preparation the day before inspection.
The Schools North East network gauged the views of their members on the new draft inspection framework at its academies conference in Newcastle this week attended my trust chief executives, chairs, headteachers and business managers and directors of finance.
Mike Parker, director of Schools North East, said: “There was unanimous support among the 225 school leaders we polled yesterday for the move to a curriculum-led inspection framework.
“In particular, leaders feel it will enable North East schools to paint a fuller picture of their schools than the current data-led approach.
“There is, however, a warning to the Ofsted leadership team that there is a significant task at hand in reassuring school leaders that they can deliver this framework on the ground.
“Just 14 per cent of those leaders polled currently have confidence in this happening.”
The results also showed 98 per cent of those polled said they believed Ofsted’s approach would give North East schools a better opportunity to give good accounts of themselves during inspections.
There was also some support for Ofsted’s plans to extend the length of short inspections of good schools to two days.
Of those asked more than half supported it with 14 per cent strongly agreeing and 39 per cent agreeing with the proposal. Around a third objected to the plan with 20 per cent disagreeing and 11 per cent saying they strongly disagreed.
There was also support for Ofsted’s proposed changes to the inspection categories. Of those polled 86 per cent agreed with creating a new quality of education judgement to replace both outcomes and teaching and learning while 14 per cent said they neither agreed or disagreed.
And 74 per cent supported the plan to separate personal development and behaviour and attitudes.
The most unpopular change Ofsted is proposing was the plan for a lead inspector to arrive at a school the afternoon before inspection starts.
Critics of this have suggested this is a move towards no notice inspection but Ofsted have said it is proposing it to ensure inspection is less data driven.
The poll of School North East members showed 69 per cent strongly disagreed with it and another 18 per cent disagreed. Just six per cent strongly agreed with the change and three per cent agreed with it.
There was also opposition to Ofsted’s plan to no longer look at school’s internal inspection data under its new regime. Around three quarters of people polled 76 per cent objected to this idea while 13 per cent supported it.
Ofsted is consulting on a new inspection framework over a 12 week period. It will start inspecting schools under this new regime from September this year.
