New look Ofsted inspections ‘could force schools to become academies’ – ATL

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers has raised concerns over changes to the Ofsted inspection processwhich will focus on maintaining standards through shorter and more frequent inspections.

Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary at the ATL, said she was “deeply worried that the government might use Ofsted judgements to identify “coasting” schools so that they can be turned into academies. This would make it difficult for schools to have truly honest conversations about their own strengths and weaknesses.”

She added: “Of course schools must be accountable for the education they provide children and young people, but, for too long, Ofsted inspections have made schools jump through hoops rather than doing what’s best for pupils.
 
“We are pleased Ofsted has listened to the accurate criticisms about its inspections and is moving towards the more effective system proposed by ATL…
 
“While it is good that there will be more ‘serving practitioners’ in inspection teams who are trained by HMI, we believe they should include teachers, not just school leaders.  Ofsted will have its work cut out to train those teams in time to implement a new framework from September.  And we are still concerned that Ofsted will not make sure that people with the right expertise are inspecting the right schools.
 
“We also question what information inspectors will use to check ‘leaders have identified key areas of concern’ when they are only in school for a day?  Who decides what the key areas of concern are?  We fear that not having all the pupils entered for the Ebacc or having too few children making ‘good progress’ from their baseline may become Ofsted’s areas of concern due to political interference.
 
”Ofsted must also be held accountable for the impact of its inspections on teachers, leaders and pupils. So we welcome new, more transparent complaints procedures that should enable schools to have more trust in the accuracy and reliability of the inspectors who turns up on the doorstep.”