The new president of a major school leaders’ union has called for an “overhaul” of the current “high-stakes” school inspection system, which he believes has “ruined careers”.
Speaking to Tes shortly after taking up his new role at the NAHT union, former primary headteacher Tim Bowen also warned that Ofsted is not “fit for purpose”, arguing that the watchdog has been unsuccessful in “desperately” seeking a role during the pandemic.
Asked about the best and worst aspects of the existing schools’ system, Mr Bowen, who was previously headteacher of Maple Primary School in St Albans for two decades, said a culture of “high-stakes” accountability has had a “huge” impact on staff wellbeing.
He stressed that he is not “against inspection”, and “schools have got to be accountable”, but he believes the current system of “checking on narrow compliance” is “not doing anyone any good”.
Ofsted school inspections ‘cause immense stress’
“I’ve seen many of my colleagues under immense stress, sometimes with their careers ruined,” he said.
“They’ve had a couple of years where for a whole host of reasons, sometimes not their fault in any way, the Sats scores have dipped a bit, they’ve been on the receiving end of an Ofsted inspection, they’ve had governors or parents turn against them.
“The high-stakes accountability and the current inspection system has ruined careers and even when it hasn’t ruined careers, the effect it’s had on the wellbeing of staff has been huge.
“If we want the best teachers and the best school leaders to go and work in schools in the most challenging areas, then this system has to change because they haven’t got long and if in a few years’ time they haven’t managed to magically change things, in often...very demanding circumstances, it’s very difficult for them.”
Mr Bowen said that inspection should be about “helping schools with improvement in a positive way”.
“I’m not against inspection. I don’t think any headteacher is,” he said.
“Inspection should be something that’s done with you, professionally, looking at areas for improvement, looking at areas for development, not something that is done to you.”
He added that the absence of routine inspections during the pandemic had led him to “question the whole value of Ofsted”.
“You reflect on the lockdown period and...Ofsted has been desperately, I think, searching for a role in that time,” he said.
“But I don’t think it’s really found it. And I think it does lead one to question the whole value of Ofsted. I don’t believe it’s fit for purpose.”
Mr Bowen said the accountability system should be “professional-looking with maybe greater emphasis on peer-to-peer support”.
“It’s time for an overhaul - not against inspection, per se, but it’s got to be far more professional, so that it’s not this sort of axe above the throat type thing that many people, rightly or wrongly, feel [it is],” he said.
“It’s been like this for far too long now. And the bottom line is the children don’t benefit from it.”
Watch NAHT president Tim Bowen answer Tes’ 10 questions, including his opinions on the best and worst aspects of the current schools’ system, here:
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