Ofsted’s new inspections have caused more stress for school staff and put pressure on to inspection teams, headteachers’ leaders have warned.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has publisheda from schools that were among the first to volunteer to be inspected under the new inspection regime.
Ofsted has started school inspections under its new report-card inspection framework this month. With this new system, the inspectorate uses a five-point grading scale to assess schools across at least six evaluation areas.
In a blog post summarising the responses, Andy Jordan, ASCL’s inspection and accountability specialist, says: “It is clear that the new framework puts a great deal of burden on inspection teams to reach a variety of judgements across two days.”
He says this makes planning inspection activity difficult, and added that one school leader “told us that it took nearly three hours to plan the timetable for the second day of inspection to ensure that everything could be covered”.
New Ofsted inspections ‘increase workload’
“This is additional workload, and has created greater stress among those who have been involved in inspection so far,” Mr Jordan says.
ASCL highlights how an Ofsted in September referred to a “new inspection methodology to reduce workload for the education workforce”.
Mr Jordan adds: “However, it is clear that far from reducing workloads, the renewed framework is increasing the burden on senior staff. One school leader told me that the demands ‘were massive’ and another said that when inspectors left at 5pm on day one, senior leadership team members still had several hours of work to complete.”
The blog raises concerns that the burden of inspection has “fallen heavily on leadership teams”. It notes that senior staff are needed in meetings and to accompany inspectors on learning walks while still having their day job to do.
ASCL also says Ofsted needs to urgently look at the impact of using a “secure fit” approach to grading - which means that schools have to satisfy all of the watchdog’s criteria in each area to be awarded a particular grade.
The union warns that this has made it challenging to achieve both the “expected standard” and the “strong standard” grades.
Mr Jordan says: “This is particularly the case with the achievement and attendance evaluation areas as achieving the ‘expected standard’ entails being broadly in line with national averages.
“Leaders of schools in challenging contexts, where it is hardest to achieve these benchmarks, fear they will receive ‘needs attention’ grades which do not reflect the quality of provision and the fabulous work of their schools.”
He says Ofsted must look at this “as a matter of urgency” and warns that the secure fit methodology risks penalising schools doing great work in very difficult circumstances.
Some positive feedback
However, the blog also highlights some positive feedback from the first two weeks of inspections.
School leaders welcomed the fact that inspections have been led by permanent Ofsted employees (HMIs), and feel that this has added consistency to judgements.
ASCL also says that members have reported that the approach taken by inspectors has felt more collaborative. School leaders commented on the fact that inspections have felt ”‘done with’ rather than ‘done to”.
And an increased focus on the school’s context has also been welcomed.
Mr Jordan also highlights the introduction of the “nominee role” in school inspections - to act as the main point of contact and liaison with the inspection team. He says this has helped to slightly reduce the burden on headteachers across the two days of inspection.
And ASCL says the focus on inclusion is also welcome. Inclusion is one of the six evaluation areas that Ofsted gives schools a graded judgement on.
ASCL adds that its summary has been produced following detailed feedback from eight inspections, as well as additional feedback from other members. It says that the feedback has been mixed but has been slightly more negative than positive.
Ofsted is now into its third week of inspecting schools that have volunteered. From Monday next week, it will resume routine inspections.
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