Ofsted urged to pause inspections after headteacher took her own life, awaiting inspection report downgrading her school from outstanding to inadequate
- Union representatives have spoken up about the ‘intolerable pressure’ school leaders are put under by the current Ofsted approach to inspections.
- Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, called for "an immediate review" and urged the inspectorate to consider replacing the current system of "graded judgements which reduce everything that a school or college does to a single blunt descriptor".
- A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "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.”
- Could better wellbeing support for school leaders and staff be put in place? What would that look like?
- Will the inspection approach be reviewed in light of this tragedy?
The worth of Ofsted reports
- Are parents really relying on Ofsted reports and gradings to choose their child’s school?
- One recent piece of research shows how difficult it is to be sure. The academics looked at 10 years of Ofsted inspections of secondary schools and how that related to GCSE results five years later. Once they had taken account of children's backgrounds, and how well they had done already at school, there was "no detectable difference" between Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate.
- Head teachers of schools in deprived and challenged communities complain vociferously about Ofsted, which some feel is weighted against them. A report published in 2022 found schools that were stuck in a cycle of repeatedly weak Ofsted performances tended to have higher numbers of disadvantaged pupils.
- Questions have been raised as to the worth of the inspections and whether they improve schools, or simply point out where they are struggling.
- What support is available to school leaders throughout the inspection process?
MPs launch teacher recruitment and retention inquiry
The Education Committee is set to investigate the driving factors behind chronic teacher shortages as part of a new inquiry
- Schools are continuing to face the huge teacher shortages; the highest number of vacancies in 11 years was recorded in 2021.
- The government’s trainee recruitment target for secondary teachers was missed by 41% last year.
- Physics, design & technology and modern foreign languages have taken the biggest hit.
- Current recruitment figures for the 2023-24 cohort of trainee teachers show little signs of improvement.
- How will schools continue to cope with the teacher shortage?
- What is the impact on pupils?
Schools’ Stem diversity problem needs systemic solution, say MPs
Report finds students from black Caribbean backgrounds in England ‘acutely’ underrepresented in Stem
- The report by MPs found that fewer black Caribbean students studied triple science than students of any other background.
- It also highlighted the lack of diversity in the teaching workforce, pointing out that an additional 15,655 black teachers would be needed in order to bring teacher diversity in line with that of pupils.
- The report also looked at female underrepresentation in STEM subjects and found that young women still make up only 13% of computing A-level students in England and 23% of physics.
- The MPs’ report raised concerns about the lack of triple science GCSE provision – where pupils study three standalone GCSEs – in disadvantaged areas of England, where schools are less likely to have subject specialist teachers.
- It suggested that the national curriculum in England should be updated to reflect greater diversity and called on Ofsted to report on disparities in subject take-up and attainment across gender, ethnic and socioeconomic background as part of its inspection criteria.
- What support do schools need to address these disparities?
- How can STEM subjects be made more accessible to underrepresented groups?
Gillian Keegan urged to not let culture wars weaken sex education
Organisations write to education secretary before review, saying England’s schools have vital role in tackling misogyny and abuse
- More than 50 organisations concerned with education and tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) have written to Gillian Keegan to urge her to resist the “politicisation” of sex education, following a row in which Conservative backbench MPs claimed that children were being taught “graphic lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely, and 72 genders”.
- The organisations accused the government of spending only £3.2m of the promised £6m funding package for RSHE, despite research from the DfE estimating that it would cost £59m to deliver the RSE curriculum.
- A government spokesperson said that they will be publishing further guidance on how schools can effectively teach about relationships and sex, addressing issues including sexual harassment and sexual violence. They added that they are also protecting children through their online safety bill, which aims to ensure technology firms will be required to enforce their age limits to prevent children from accessing harmful material online.
- How long will it be until these actions are in place and are having a positive impact on children and young people?
- Will the guidance be enough? Or is there a clear requirement for better training and resources for teachers to be able to deliver adequate Relationships and Sex Education?