Ofsted is not only failing headteachers, but parents and children too

Is Ofsted more concerned about ensuring quality teaching for Britain’s children or showing how “tough” it is?

From the perspective of this parent and former school governor, looking on aghast at the story of dedicated headteacher Ruth Perry, whose family say she took her own life because of the stress caused by Ofsted, I would suggest that the answer is the second one. And it has been that way for some time.

There is, I fear, a performative aspect to the way Ofsted conducts itself. Its leaders bang on about standards. Its teams act like the education heavy mob, seemingly tasked with going into schools and being the enforcers. I’ve seen this up close – it isn’t pretty.

When a Berkshire headteacher stood up to Ofsted, after what happened to Perry, the police were called in. School inspectors were reportedly flanked by officers, as a protest was held outside.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said:

“It is a legal requirement for schools and nurseries to be inspected by Ofsted and they have a legal duty to carry out those inspections. Inspections are hugely important as they hold schools to account for their educational standards and parents greatly rely on the ratings to give them confidence in choosing the right school for their child.”

They then added, “our deep condolences to the family and friends of Ruth Perry”.

Those condolences feel eerily similar to the empty “thoughts and prayers” US politicians like to serve up after another avoidable catastrophe.

Part of the tragedy of these catastrophes – compounded with their preventability – is that we know nothing will change and more bad things are likely to happen.

I’m worried about the schools my kids go to. I’m worried that their teachers will quit through stress or decide any other job is preferable.

Two of my daughter’s best teachers are already leaving. There was a recruitment crisis before this tragedy, so how is the government going to encourage our finest and brightest educators to apply now that teaching looks as potentially dangerous as working on an oil rig, but a lot less well paid?

How are schools going to get by, given the impact of the energy crisis on their budgets? How can they afford the inadequate pay rises they’ve been offered when their funding is still far away from anywhere near it should be.

These are the kind of questions that keep parents like myself up at night – let alone headteachers, who have to shoulder all of the responsibility – regardless if anything was actually their fault – before having to face the Ofsted inspectors turning up and complaining about “standards”.

I’m not here to say that inspections don’t matter– not all schools are good. Not all schools bother to listen to parents. I’m writing this having just spoken to a campaigner who helped save the deaf unit at the Laycock Primary School in Islington from devastating cuts by the governing body.

Schools inspectors – in this case – served as allies, visiting as a result of the campaign. In my opinion this should happen more often: instead of adding to the strain teachers and heads are under, inspectors should work in alliance with the teachers and parents, and fight for what is most beneficial for our children.

Writing for The Independent, former headteacher and inspector Jon O’Connor said that when he reported to a senior colleague that a headteacher had physically collapsed – with indications of stress – the curt response was that it was “for the school to deal with”, before the colleague turned back to his laptop.

O’Connor’s experience inside a rotten system led him to conclude it was “not fit for purpose”. My experience as a parent, a former school governor, and the son and husband of teachers who have seen the results of Ofsted’s grim work up close, leads me to the same conclusion.

It’s high time we brought the curtain down on this dismal show. Britain’s schools face tough challenges, many of which can be laid squarely at the door of the Treasury and the DfE. Ofsted is exacerbating these problems. Reform is overdue. Parents and children deserve better. So do Britain’s teachers and heads. The tragedy of Ruth Perry should serve as a wake up call for all of us. Let’s learn from this and make actual changes now, before history repeats itself.