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This was so close to being a good thing but insistence on producing a public letter following Ofsted visits has put paid to that 1/ @nahtnews @ofstednews @educationgovuk @NGAEmmaK https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofsted-visits-to-schools-and-colleges-to-begin-this-month
They should have focused sharply on providing real-time intelligence to govt of what’s happening on the ground. Instead they’ve lost their clarity of purpose. 2/
The autumn term is likely to be one of the most challenging that any of us have ever experienced. It will require us to be 100% focused on supporting children and young people back into school successfully and dealing with the uncertainty of what may follow... 3/
Whichever way you look at it, the visit has become a distraction that has potential to create workload. I’ve already seen a back-to-school checklist from one local authority to schools that has ‘preparation for Ofsted autumn visit’ as a priority for action for the autumn term 4/
Ofsted say these aren’t inspections. Yet visits will look at how leaders are ensuring that pupils resume learning, their continency plans for lockdown, use of catch up funding and more. Letter to parents will follow summarising what ‘inspectors noted’... 5/
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck. This is inspection activity, in all but name 6/ @LeadingLearner
These visits did not need a letter to parents to report what inspectors found. The letter fundamentally changes the dynamic of the conversation - An incentive to present your best-self, not a warts-and-all view of reality on the ground 7/
From a school perspective, a letter to parents from Ofsted will be seen as either an opportunity or a threat. Some will view this as their chance to paint a positive picture of how their school have responded to the crisis, whilst others will see it as something to be feared. 8/
The inspectorate should be more than a one trick pony, capable of carrying out research and investigative activity that treads lightly enough to not skew the results. This is not it. 9/
We’ve engaged with Ofsted throughout this. We’ve made these point numerous times. It's bitterly disappointing that the views of the profession are once again being ignored at a point when we all need to get behind schools, not trip them up @GavinWilliamson @KateGreenSU @NAHTnews
