Suffolk headteacher says proposed Ofsted report-card system doesn't tackle past issues
Ofsted says it's 'fairer' than the previous method - and will be simpler for parents and teachers to understand
A teacher in Suffolk says Ofsted's proposed plans to bring in a new report-card style system to assess schools in England doesn't address issues raised in the past.
Schools in England could be graded across a variety of different areas - including attendance and inclusion - using a colour-coded five-point scale.
Schools would receive ratings - from the red coloured "causing concern" to orange coloured "attention needed", through the green shades of "secure", "strong" and "exemplary" - for each area of practice under proposals for Ofsted's new report card system.
The Government announced last year that headline Ofsted grades for overall effectiveness for schools in England would be scrapped.
Previously, Ofsted awarded one of four single-phrase inspection judgments: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
Rebecca Leak, executive director of the Suffolk Primary Headteachers Association said: " We really welcome the fact that there's any consultation at all. On the other hand, it does all feel very quick, there's a lot of change being discussed about education and schools in general at the moment.
"There's also an imprecision around what is being proposed in terms of it not really tackling what some of the issues that have been highlighted in the past are.
"Leaders have had issued around the comportment of inspectors, so how they behaved. These changes are not looking at that, they may well be changing their behaviours - but this whole new framework of different colours - it's almost like they made up a totally different problem to solve, which we weren't actually saying existed in the first place
The reforms follow criticism of the inspection system following the death of headteacher Mrs Perry who took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from the highest to the lowest overall effectiveness rating over safeguarding concerns.
Rebecca said: "I lead a very small school last year and I was on the receiving end of an inspection. I was able to note how the changes and that felt far better. The overall accountability structure and five key descriptors we all understand that now - I think it's possibly foolish to start messing with it and making this whole change again.
"What we have had happening is that those schools having that negative banner over thier names for a very long time. What would be welcomed in the sector is a more iterative process, if there was an area that was seen as problematic it would be then re-inspected in a certain amount of time, instead of that school hanging on for another four years - and that's what's been really difficult."
What does Ofsted say?
Sir Martyn, chief inspector of Ofsted, said the death of Mrs Perry has been on his mind "ever since it happened".
He said the "beauty" of a report card - which he said is "a bit like a child's school report card" - is that it is different from the previous system in that it is "fairer" and "more proportionate".
"It highlights all the things that schools excel at as well as those where they could improve.
"And our report card will give a far better balanced, more realistic and a fairer picture of all of a school's strengths and areas for improvement," he said.
Ofsted is also proposing that all schools with an identified need for improvement will receive monitoring calls and visits to check that timely action is being taken to raise standards.
This includes schools with any evaluation area graded "attention needed".
From November, it is proposed that Ofsted will no longer carry out ungraded inspections of state schools which means every school will know that its next routine Ofsted inspection will be a full, graded one.
Under the proposals, the watchdog will also include more contextual data in inspections and reports - such as learner characteristics, absence and attendance figures, and local area demographics.
Inspectors will use this information to help understand the circumstances in which leaders are operating.
A 12-week consultation on the reforms is being launched on Monday.
Ofsted will publish a report on the outcome of the consultation in the summer, and the final agreed reforms will be implemented from this autumn.
Sir Martyn said: "Our mission is to raise standards and improve the lives of children, particularly the most disadvantaged. Today's proposals for a new Ofsted report card and a new way of inspecting are designed to do just that.
"The report card will replace the simplistic overall judgment with a suite of grades, giving parents much more detail and better identifying the strengths and areas for improvement for a school, early years or further education provider.
"Our new top 'exemplary' grade will help raise standards, identifying world-class practice that should be shared with the rest of the country."
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