MPs will question Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver next week on the watchdog’s progress in addressing concerns raised by a coroner following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Oliver, who has just marked one year in the role, will appear in front of the Parliamentary education committee on Tuesday, alongside national education director Lee Owston and national regulation and social care director Yvette Stanley.
Just weeks before Oliver took the helm, a coroner ruled that an inspection at Caversham Primary School, Reading, had contributed to the death of Perry in 2022.
At the time, coroner Heidi Connor warned there was a “risk of future deaths if there is only lip service paid to learning from tragedies like this”.
The committee said it would “scrutinise Sir Martyn’s progress in addressing the coroner’s concerns, implementing the previous committee’s recommendations, and responding to the inspectorate’s own Big Listen public consultation”.
MPs will ask about new report cards
In September, the new government axed single-phrase headline judgments for schools with immediate effect. Since then, Ofsted has been developing plans to replace current inspection reports with a system of report cards.
Leaked proposals suggest schools are set to be judged on a sliding scale from ‘exemplary’ to ‘causing concern’ against 10 evaluation areas including teaching, achievement, inclusion and preparation for next steps.
But leaders have warned the proposals will be too confusing for parents and could spawn a “whole new host of issues”.
MPs will ask Oliver about “forthcoming changes such as the use of report cards instead of Ofsted’s single-word judgements from September 2025, and improving scrutiny of how schools manage to be inclusive to pupils with SEND”.
“He will also be asked about new government proposals for schools to receive shorter annual reviews of their safeguarding practices, and for Ofsted to gain new powers to inspect multi-academy trusts – both policies recommended by the previous committee.
“There may be questions on changes that appear to be outstanding, such as setting a new time frame for publishing reports following the inspection of a school, and how Ofsted will ensure its inspectors have specialist knowledge of the subjects and lessons they observe.”
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