04 May 2024 , 20:25
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Ministers are posing a “danger” to school leaders’ lives by refusing to scrap single-word judgements from Ofsted inspections, the headteachers union said yesterday.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) passed an emergency motion vowing to explore "legal and industrial routes" to secure reforms to inspection processes.
They said changes were needed to protect staff in schools - and said the existing system was “inhumane and unreliable.” Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said he put the Government "under notice" over its position on single-phrase Ofsted judgments.
The Commons Education Committee recommended the system - which brands schools with single-word ratings from “outstanding” to “inadequate” - be replaced with a more “nuanced” system. But ministers last week rejected the recommendation, saying there were “significant benefits” to the existing system.
James Bowen, the NAHT’s Assistant General Secretary told this newspaper: “I think there was a strong sense that change has to come, almost a consensus across parents, educators, schools - everyone saying this situation can't carry on and this is not fit for purpose.” He said there was “genuine shock” among school leaders when the decision was announced, adding: “The government just turned around and effectively rejected half of them.”
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During the debate, James Hawkins, a deputy headteacher in Birmingham, said: "I have heard colleagues this morning talk about how they have had to retire because it is the only option. It is not the only option. The options we have before us as a union is to take action, potentially we could go forward into industrial action." He said: "If we don't stand and rise to this now, colleagues, then we may as well all retire."
Dave Woods, from the Ealing branch, said: "Single-phrase judgments have no place in our accountability system. They have been proven to be dangerous. And if the Secretary of State, Gillian Keegan, is so tin-eared and remains sitting on her posterior then her demise will come. Because we will fight and we will continue to fight until such a punitive damaging system is removed."
Meanwhile, Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, announced the regulator will scrap subject "deep dives" during ungraded school inspections from September, to "reduce the burden" on school leaders. But he said the removal of single-phrase judgements “has to be a Government decision.”
Teaching unions have been calling for reform since the death of head teacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life in January 2023. Inspectors had downgraded her school, Caversham Primary, from 'outstanding' to 'inadequate' over safeguarding concerns.