OFSTED’s box of ticks?

Photo by Agence Olloweb on Unsplash

On the premise that criteria suspend all reasonable judgement, our schools have suffered long enough from the tick box, one word, bureaucratic speak form of inspection.

Inspectors have allowed themselves to be straight jacketed by OFSTED style thinking: one way of doing things, one way of describing things, one way of deciding things.  

Who are the inspectors? In 2022, of the 1,170 inspectors, 800 were headteachers and senior leaders. Why are they doing this work? Do they need the cash; do they think that in some way it will improve them as professionals; or is it that they are finding out how they can better protect their own school when it comes up for inspection? Surely, they can't be inspecting because they think that the current framework is educationally sound?

What kind of schools do these headteachers run? Are they one dimensional like OFSTED? Do they judge their teachers by tick box appraisal? Do they consider their schools successful because their pupils attain high levels in their tests and imagine success to be children parroting synthetic phonics, with meaningless words?

Do those in the OFSTED really think that creating fear in our primary schools helps children, teachers, heads and parents?

Let’s have inspection certainly, but let's have inspection that is intelligent, humane, supportive, consultative, and reflective.

No more suicides.