Headteachers have called on Ofsted to allow schools to halt inspections on request because of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A school leaders’ union has said that schools should not have to grapple with the demands of an inspection while they are working “in crisis mode”.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has written to Ofsted calling on it to change its deferrals policy to allow schools to ask for inspection to be stopped.
Inspections: Ofsted accused of not taking Covid into account
Controversy: Call to halt Ofsted inspections over concerns about heads’ wellbeing
Background: Ofsted returns to a full inspection programme
And the NAHT school leaders’ union has responded to this call today by urging the government to put school inspections on hold.
In September, Ofsted resumed all types of school inspection after they were suspended during the first school lockdown in March 2020.
Ofsted inspections: ‘It’s not business as usual in schools during Covid’
Around 500 inspections have taken place so far over the past half-term, during a period when the coronavirus has continued to impact attendance, with the latest government data revealing that 248,000 pupils were out of school for Covid-related reasons in the week before half-term.
Last month the ASCL held talks with Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, over concerns about the way inspections were being carried out this term.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL, said at the time that heads had been raising “strongly worded” objections about Ofsted inspecting during the pandemic “as if these are normal times.”
Today he said: “Ofsted has to recognise that it is not business as usual in schools and colleges and that many are experiencing huge disruption.”
He added that many schools were now juggling online teaching with in-person lessons with fewer staff available.
“It isn’t fair to insist that schools must be inspected when they are in crisis mode,” he added.
“They need to be able to focus their time and energy on the core business of teaching and supporting children, rather than having to deal with inspections that could easily be done at another time.”
Mr Barton said that inspectors would not be able to form a “valid judgement” of schools they visited when they were not operating under normal circumstances.
“An inspection in these circumstances just adds to the pressure and could end up unfairly punishing a school if it results in an adverse judgement,” he said.
‘Ofsted hasn’t gone far enough’ to recognise Covid disruption
He pointed out that Ofsted had introduced changes in its inspection handbooks at the start of term to take Covid into account but added that “these changes don’t go far enough in recognising very serious disruption”.
Mr Barton said that circumstances between schools varied and so the ASCL was not calling for a “general moratorium” on inspections but for Ofsted to allow schools to defer inspections if they asked for this.
“There is a deferral process already in place but the bar for deferrals is set very high and isn’t suitable for this situation,” he added.
The school leaders’ union has written to Ofsted to formally request a policy change, with exceptions in place for where serious safeguarding concerns or concerns about a breakdown in leadership and management exist, where the ASCL would continue to support immediate inspections.
Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of the NAHT, said: “Ofsted inspections are a distraction to schools while they are still struggling to cope with the impact of Covid and are rightly putting all their efforts into pupils’ recovery.
“The government should back schools and children by pausing inspection, so that all the focus can be where it should be: on the most important task of helping children’s education and wellbeing to recover.”
