The decision to scrap one or two-word Ofsted inspection grades for England’s schools is good news for teachers – but bad news for just about everyone else, not least parents and pupils.
Many school staff have never liked the labelling of schools as ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’. They say that it doesn’t give the full story and heaps pressure on staff during inspections. In one case last year, a head teacher took her own life after her school received an unflattering report. What happened to Ruth Perry was a terrible tragedy. But while some reform was no doubt necessary, getting rid of straightforward Ofsted summaries is not the answer.
Getting rid of straightforward Ofsted summaries is not the answer
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s honeyed defence of the measure on Radio 4, where she said that parents were ‘capable of understanding a wider range of information, not just having everything boiled down into one word,’ is disingenuous. It’s not as if Ofsted assessments currently consist of a........