Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said new report cards will provide “high information” but have “more proportionate stakes” for school leaders.
Appearing in front of the education committee today, he also talked about what the report cards will cover, proposed new safeguarding checks and his concerns over the special educational needs system.
Here’s your Schools Week round-up of the best bits …
1. Report cards: ‘high information, more proportionate stakes’
A consultation on introducing school report cards in September will launch this month.
Oliver said that one-word Ofsted judgements are “low information and high stakes”.
“I think we can move to high information and more proportionate stakes, and still raise accountability and still tell parents very clearly the performance of schools,” he told MPs.
He said schools will retain their one-word judgements until they have been reinspected under the new report card system.
On the consultation, he said it will “present a proposed model…it will ask questions about those proposals, if people think the way of reporting is clear,” he said.
He said children and parents will also be consulted.
2. What might new report cards cover?
Oliver said he believes leadership and governance will form a key focus of the report cards: “How well are governors supporting leaders? How well are leaders supporting staff? How well are all of them supporting children in their setting?”
He added that the curriculum, how well teachers are being developed to deliver it, and pupil outcomes, will also be key areas.
Oliver added behaviour and attendance are important areas that should feature, but should not necessarily be grouped together as one.
There may also be external issues affecting behaviour and attendance that are not “in the school’s gift” to resolve, he added.
Inclusion and supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable children will also be a key focus.
Leaked Ofsted documents in November revealed 10 areas Ofsted was proposing the report cards would look at.
3. Value-for-money concerns over Labour’s safeguarding ‘spot checks’ …
Under the new report cards, safeguarding will become a separate criteria.
Oliver added safeguarding should no longer fall under the leadership and governance judgment as words such as ‘outstanding’ do not fit when judging safeguarding.
It is “a nonsense” to judge it as anything other than “met or not met”, he said.
However, Labour has promised to introduce annual safeguarding “spot checks”.
Oliver said government has not said whether Ofsted would conduct these. While Ofsted has the expertise to do so, he said it would cost £45 million per year.
“It’s really expensive, and [with] tightening public finances I think it’s right that we ask ourselves ‘is this the best spending of the money?’”
4. … and SEND is bigger issue anyway
Oliver spoke in damning terms about the SEND system, which he said Ofsted has a duty to support the government in improving.
“The system doesn’t work right now,” he said. “It’s a lose-lose situation. It is broken. I think we can direct schools to be more inclusive and reward those that are doing the difficult job.”
Oliver also suggested SEND should be prioritised ahead of safeguarding – saying it is the “burning bush” in schools.
“We do not see safeguarding as the biggest issue in schools. I would say that, by far..the needs of SEND children is a much bigger need in schools.”
5. Independent complaints system would be ‘burden on schools’
Oliver was asked by committee chair Helen Hayes why he has resisted putting in place a “truly independent complaints process”.
He responded by saying an entirely independent complaints process would be a burden on schools, as it would mean independent investigators would have to return schools to carry out their own inspections.
“It becomes really difficult because who inspects the inspectorate? And who inspects the inspectorate of the inspectorate? And where does it ever end?”
He said the complaints process “has to be about us gathering the evidence, and then making sure that evidence meets the framework”.
“We are very committed to being open and transparent…and keeping a review of the way we work on complaints,” he added. “It’s an area we take seriously.”
6. MAT inspections: ‘No-one should be able to hide anywhere’
Oliver stressed his determination for Ofsted to be given powers to inspect multi-academy trusts, and all other institutions and bodies that are responsible for children, as proposed by Labour.
“No-one should be able to hide anywhere, in any shadow, and not be within the view of the inspectorate and regulator, where they’re responsible for children,” he said. “We should hold them to account.”
He said it will “require an act” to be delivered by parliament, to give “a legal basis” for MAT inspections.
7. 95% of reports published in 30-day target
One of the many concerns flagged by the coroner after the inquest into the death of Ruth Perry was about the length of time between inspections and reports being published.
Oliver said currently 95 per cent of reports are being published within the 30-working day timeframe, Ofsted’s target.
A further two per cent have been published outside that window because inspectors needed to gather additional evidence, with the remaining three per cent late.
Regarding the 2022 Ofsted inspection at Caversham Primary School, where Perry was headteacher, Oliver said publication of the report “got delayed and delayed again, and it just pushed it back to an unacceptable length of time”.
But he said “checks and balances” are now in place to help ensure school leaders are not “sitting there with a report that’s just hanging over them”.
8. Caversham inspection team no longer inspecting
Oliver defended the inspectors who carried out the inspection at Caversham primary school.
The lead inspector has “not resumed on any inspection,” said Oliver, who added: “There is no suggestion that they did a bad job or did anything wrong whatsoever.
“It was the framework that they delivered and it’s for Ofsted to respond. It’s Ofsted’s responsibility, not the responsibility of that individual.
“And I have a duty to that individual to protect them and their wellbeing, because they have some considerable concerns in their work…I’m not placing them out on inspection because they’re vulnerable and I need to make sure I support that member of staff.”
