Seize the Moment

This feels like it could be a big moment.

I woke up this morning (Saturday the 29th April) to read on the BBC website: School Set To Take Ofsted to Court. I could not have imagined such a headline even two months ago. The tragic death of Ruth Perry has brought extraordinary, unprecedented unity to the education community. It launched literally dozens of blog posts and articles in the press; it has featured in news and current affairs programmes; it has been the subject of radio phone-ins, a BBC documentary, and countless conversations in staff rooms all over the land. If we can but seize this moment, Ruth’s legacy could be a permanent change for the better.

We are living English Education’s “Me Too” movement, with the focus firmly on Ofsted and its practices. The dignity and resolve of Ruth’s family and her sister Julia, the courage of people like headteacher Flora Cooper, have encouraged literally thousands of teachers to tell their stories. An informal survey conducted by prominent podcaster Mr P garnered more than 3,000 personal accounts of encounters with inspectors, experiences which have been analysed and distilled by Dr Pam Jarvis into a harrowing article for Yorkshire Bylines. Many of those worst affected by bad experiences with Ofsted have understandably chosen to remain anonymous, but serving headteacher Dave McPartlin bravely put his head above the parapet and appeared on BBC Breakfast television to explain the effect the inspectorate had on his own mental health and was then, in his words written in a later blog, “inundated with stories from school leaders. Each one talked of the stress and fear the sickness and anger”.

All this energy, all the emotion, has built up a head of steam and led to a widespread expectation that change must come, though the responses from the Department for Education and from Ofsted itself may not so far seem encouraging. Last week His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, issued a statement about the future of school inspection and followed this up with a round of media appearances, including the BBC’s flagship Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. HMCI’s message is that there will be no substantive change to school inspections. She has previously acknowledged that the system of appeals and complaints about inspection is, in her words, “not satisfying” and now says there may be changes to this. She also suggests some slight alteration might be made to the inspection of safeguarding and to the requirement for headteachers and school leaders to remain silent about the inspection result until the publication of the report: a period which, in the case of Ruth Perry’s school, Caversham Primary, stretched from November to March.

None of this goes anywhere near far enough for the many thousands of teachers, school leaders and others damaged by Ofsted, who are seething with anger and upset. But it is movement. Things are shifting. And, significantly, they are moving in response to the mood of the profession. However, as Ms Spielman correctly pointed out to Laura Kuenssberg, she just follows orders. Any decision for real change must come from ministers at the Department for Education. If we want inspections to be different in future we need to be pressuring politicians and therein lies a challenge.

Almost everyone seems able to agree that Ofsted is not working but, inevitably, there is a range of views about what to do next. There are long term critics of the inspectorate who would sweep it away entirely; and others who are on record as preferring to just tweak what we have. The NEU has a “Replace Ofsted” campaign and is sponsoring the “Beyond Ofsted” enquiry with involvement from both Alison Peacock of the Chartered College and former schools minister Jim Knight. I am also aware of other groups holding similar discussions. This is positive news: significant voices in the sector are envisaging and planning for a different future, but we need to be wary of too much detail, too soon, which risks fragmenting our hitherto united front.

From reading and listening to the accounts of many, many people over recent weeks, I have realised that all most of us want is a regulatory, quality assurance body which can be trusted to treat us with respect, to be knowledgeable and supportive, not to lie to us and, above all, never to destroy careers and damage schools with a single word. That shouldn’t be too much to ask. In fact, if I had not experienced it myself, I would have found it incredible to think that any Ofsted inspector would tell naked, deliberate lies. It should be unthinkable that they would want to. I would emphasise again, as I always do, that most of the Ofsted inspectors I have known have been helpful and professional but, sadly, the thousands of personal testimonies I mentioned above describe rude, ignorant, confrontational and malign inspectors and the lack of a proper appeals process means that when an inspector lies to you, or about you, there is no way of obtaining justice.

So there are six points around which, I believe, virtually the entire education sector can unite today.

1. Abolish overall judgements. Reports should, instead, set out strengths and weaknesses. The DfE says parents rely on gradings to enable them to choose schools. This is tosh. Most of the Cabinet went to private schools which apparently don’t need to be described by words like “outstanding” or “inadequate” to assist parental choice. Educational consultant Paul Garvey conducted an informal Twitter poll about one word gradings. Totally unscientific, of course, but nearly 2,000 people voted, of whom more than 95% were in favour of abolishing these gradings.
2. Set up an independent, fair, appeals process. It is against all principles of natural justice that there is no proper appeal against an inspector’s verdict. (NB, the tweak to appeals HMCI has mentioned, noted above, fall far short of an independent, fair process.)
3. Remove safeguarding from Ofsted inspections. Safeguarding is too important for it to be looked at once every 3 – 5 years, with the inspectors giving a verdict then walking away for another couple of years. That’s not keeping children safe.
4. Stop insisting that headteachers or senior managers must keep the result of inspections to themselves until the report is published. (NB, the proposal on this that HMCI has mentioned, noted above, still insists on confidentiality.)
5. Set up an independent review of the arrangements for inspecting schools and other educational settings. (If you haven’t already signed the petition, please do. Click here to find it.)
6. While awaiting the outcome of this review pause all inspections unless and until the changes listed in points 1 – 4 are made.

If you agree, please sign the petition, write to your MP, lobby your unions and other groups. Those who are members of political parties, urge them to act. Make sure everyone knows this is not going away.

The evening of the day that began with a headline about a school taking Ofsted to court ended, for me, with news of Ruth Perry’s sister, Julia, appealing to serving headteachers to stand down as Ofsted inspectors. If they all did, that would send a powerful message. The energy we have now, born of genuine anger, must not be allowed to dissipate. I suspect the Department for Education is just waiting for the fuss to die away. Let’s make sure it doesn’t. Ever. Or at least until we get commitment to the six points above. We owe it to all those who have shared their stories, to all those who have suffered, to Ruth Perry, to seize this moment.