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School leaders have paved the way towards industrial action over Ofsted’s new inspection framework, after warning that “polite concern is not enough”.

Delegates at the in Belfast today unanimously backed a set of motions seeking to escalate its campaign against the watchdog.

One motion, put forward by the West Midlands region, called on NAHT to “explore legal, industrial and campaigning strategies” to challenge the new framework, which was launched in November.

The NAHT previously sought a judicial review of Ofsted’s new school inspections, but the High Court rejected it.

New framework ‘fundamentally wrong’

Amy Lassman, from NAHT’s Birmingham branch, told delegates that the motion was “not about rushing to strike”, but instead sought to ensure that industrial action remained an option. “Polite concern is not enough,” she said.

James Hawkins, also from the Birmingham branch, said school leaders needed to use “everything within our power as a union” to oppose a framework he called “fundamentally wrong”.

The motion stated that feedback from members had highlighted “increased stress, heightened workload and a deepening sense of fear among school leaders”. The framework represented “a real threat to the wellbeing, livelihoods and, in some tragic cases, the lives of education professionals”.

Delegates backed calls for NAHT to intensify political lobbying for the removal of single-word judgements and the creation of a “supportive, developmental accountability model”.

A delegate from Leeds said heads had reported feeling “numb” and “dead” following inspections, adding that “it takes them a while to recover”.

‘Policy through press release’

Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson, proposing a separate motion from the union’s primary sector council, said NAHT’s failed legal challenge over Ofsted’s consultation had not allayed the union’s concerns.

Delegates also backed a Durham branch motion warning that Ofsted is increasingly acting as a “de facto policy-maker” through its inspection frameworks.

A further Cumbria branch motion, which also won support, warned of education policy being announced for “media impact” rather than involving meaningful engagement with the profession.

The motion called for the government to engage in “genuine dialogue and consultation” with education unions at all stages of policy development, from design through to delivery and review.

It also called for NAHT to campaign publicly against “policy by government expectation or press release”.

England an ‘absolute outlier’

The motions were followed by a keynote speech from Sinéad Mc Brearty, CEO of Education Support, a charity that focuses on the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and education staff. She also chairs the NAHT advisory panel on the Ofsted framework.

In England, she said, “we have nationally internalised a narrative about the necessity of high-stakes accountability - and it just doesn’t work”.

“High-stakes inspection”, she said, contributed to England being “an absolute outlier in Europe in terms of the intensity of managerialism that we see in our system”.

Other factors included league tables, standardised testing, centrally-designed curriculum assessment specifications, and “political suspicion of the profession that…has calcified into a parental grievance culture”.

Compared with the rest of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, said Ms Mc Brearty, “England is really not in good shape” in terms of teachers’ wellbeing, workload levels and whether they feel valued in society.

She added that an “unavoidable truth” when comparing other countries’ education systems is “high degrees of professional trust secure more balanced outcomes for children and young people”.

Yesterday at the NAHT conference, incoming president Dave Woods described Ofsted as a “driver of misery” and a danger to safe working conditions in schools.

Additional Inset days rejected

A motion seeking two extra Inset days to help teachers navigate reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system and curriculum was rejected.

It called for increasing the minimum number of Inset days from five to seven in all schools, starting “when the government has clarified the timetable for implementation of SEND reform”.

However, delegates raised concerns about public perception of schools closing for two extra days, particularly for families already juggling work, childcare and rising costs. There was concern that additional Inset days would be perceived as schools unjustifiably being closed more often.

Leaders voted for the union to campaign for the government to introduce national standards for SEND training for staff in resourced provisions and SEN units.

Delegates also called for the union to campaign for the introduction of a mandatory national training programme for new school leaders, to improve recruitment and retention.