Any school visited by Ofsted next term should be exempt from future inspection for the rest of the academic year, according to a group of headteachers.

The Headteachers’ Roundtable thinktank group has also raised concerns that the watchdog’s plans to visit schools from September will “inevitably become judgemental in nature”.

Ofsted has said these visits, which will check how schools are managing a return to full education, are not inspections and will not result in graded judgements.

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However, the Headteachers’ Roundtable group has warned that Ofsted has “little or no trust in the bank for it to fall back with schools.”

With this in mind, it has made a series of recommendations to the watchdog about how it could make the visits work better for schools.

The group believes that any school which is visited in the Autumn term should then be exempt from any further Ofsted visit or inspection during 2020/21 academic year - unless there are serious safeguarding concerns.

Ofsted is due to return to full inspections in January of next year with the date being kept under review.

The heads group has described the likelihood of a return to full inspections next year as “remote and ill-considered”.

The Headteachers’ Roundtable group have suggested that Ofsted should use the visits it carries out in the Autumn term to produce national thematic reports about the return to full-time education with any reference to individual schools anonymised.

Stephen Tierney, the chair of the group said: “We are proposing that Ofsted produce the old fashioned thematic reports. 

“These reports had general findings but didn’t tend to subscribe to specific aspects in the report with a particular school.”

After it has visited a school, Ofsted is proposing that the outcomes of discussions with school leaders will be published in a brief letter so that parents can understand what steps are being taken to help children back into full-time education.

In a statement on their website, the Headteachers’ Roundtable group suggests Ofsted should “quietly drop the parent bit from the letter”. 

It adds: “Parents are unlikely to care two hoots about what Ofsted think, at this moment in time. 

“The letter would then consist of a thank you to the school for hosting the inspectors, congratulate them on the efforts made during the pandemic (mention any particular strengths) and wish the whole community well over the coming months.”

Ofsted has declined to comment on the Headteacher’s Roundtable recommendations.