Ofsted is considering quizzing schools on inspectors’ “empathy, courtesy and respect” and the organisation’s wider culture after inspections, Schools Week can reveal.
A report from the watchdog this week noted that it has “begun internal work to explore commissioning an independent survey to ask professionals across all the sectors we work with for their views on Ofsted’s culture”.
It added: “This will include our openness, our organisational integrity, and whether inspectors and all of our staff are demonstrating our values of professionalism, empathy, courtesy and respect.
“We are also exploring asking post-inspection survey questions as part of the same survey.”
Ofsted’s board would then “scrutinise the data… to help us constantly refine and improve our performance”.
‘Improving how we work with schools’
Currently, post-inspection surveys only ask school staff for views on whether the inspection was carried out in a “professional manner”.
An Ofsted spokesperson stressed it has “made several changes to inspection over the last year, focused on school leaders’ and staff welfare”.
“But we are always looking to improve the way we work with schools,” they added.
“That is why we’re currently consulting on changes to inspection that aim to take these reforms even further.”
However, the news has reignited debate over inspector conduct, amid warnings there are still “too many” leaders being pushed to the brink of leaving the profession following onerous visits.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, said: “In the last month alone, we have heard from school leaders who are considering leaving the profession as a result of a bad inspection experience.
“Even leaders who receive good outcomes describe being broken by the experience.”
‘It’s insane’
Headteacher Stuart Mycroft was stressed, anxious and “sobbing uncontrollably” when Ofsted called on Castleway Primary School in November.
The visit came just two months after an inspection at Castleway Nursery School, which he also leads. Both were rated ‘good’ in all areas.
Despite this, Mycroft said there “was a stark contrast” between the visits, even though they were conducted “under the same framework, leadership team and in the same community and building”. The “only” difference was the inspection team.
“You are rolling the dice… [as] the fate of your school depends on the mood of the person who walks into your building – it’s insane.”
Whiteman added that, “while not all inspections are like this, too many are and there is clearly a very long way to go. Rigour does not require high stakes, cliff edges or a confrontational approach.”
A Teacher Tapp survey in December found just 35 per cent of teachers said it was possible to accurately assess a school’s performance in just three days.
To conduct an accurate assessment, the majority of teachers said inspectors needed knowledge of the school’s context (85 per cent), phase expertise (80 per cent) and subject expertise (60 per cent).
Post-inspection surveys
In September, headline Ofsted grades were ditched, ahead of a planned move to report cards in the next academic year. This came after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
A coroner ruled that an inspection contributed to her suicide after she was told her school had been rated ‘inadequate’. Ofsted subsequently promised to track whether “perceptions” of it were “improving over time”.
It has also now commissioned “independent behavioural research and cognitive testing” to determine how it can “best hear from children, learners, parents, carers and provider staff during” visits.
To aid this, it has “engaged with other international inspectorates to review best practice”.
