OFSTED Under the Microscope: A Teacher’s View on Inspections, Accountability and Alternatives
OFSTED have been under the microscope recently due to negative feedback about the new inspection framework. A recent report found that 90% of schools say that OFSTED inspections negatively impact well-being. This doesn’t surprise me, as the profession has had issues with OFSTED since I began working in education in 2011.
In my view, your experience with OFSTED is heavily dependent on the school that you are working in. In my career, I have experienced 3 OFSTED inspections and the level of stress involved was inversely proportional to the quality of the school. Each time OFSTED visited my schools, I found the inspectors to be polite and fair with their judgements. However, I am willing to accept that school leaders may have a different experience.
We often hear that OFSTED is a driver of excessive workload, but maybe it is more about how school leaders react to OFSTED. Is it just that they panic and pass workload down to middle leaders and classroom teachers? One thing I am certain of, the best secondary school in England based on progress 8 (The Michaela Free School) are not bothered about OFSTED and I am sure that none of the teachers there are concerned about OFSTED in the slightest. I have also found that schools that had been ‘outstanding’ for a long time under the old framework tend to be less concerned about OFSTED because these Headteachers believe in what they do.
One thing that does disappoint me is that when the complaints are made about OFSTED by teachers and unions, I rarely hear a credible alternative put forward. Schools need to be held to account and OFSTED have been tasked with doing that for over 30 years now. This is important because many schools make it difficult for members of the public to see them. I have a child who will start school in September 2027 and I have only been able to visit one school because the others have been dodging me and making it difficult for me to visit them during the daytime. They have been encouraging me to come after school when the children are not there and I have no interest in this.
The education system in England is in a better place now than when I started in 2011, however many schools are not up to scratch and the catchment system means that house prices in areas where there are good schools increase, pricing out less affluent families. At MaxOut Tutoring, we are often employed to pick up the slack where children cannot get what they need in school. A child’s school career passes by quicker than we think it will and this is why it is key to take massive action and get in touch with us if things are not working for your child.
