Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said;
“Given recent events and widespread concerns about leaders’ wellbeing, it’s the height of insensitivity for Ofsted to be going into schools or colleges this week.
Ofsted should pause all its inspections and reflect upon the unmanageable and counter-productive stress they cause for school leaders, and the impact on leaders. This stress is well-documented in literature about Ofsted. That they are phoning leaders this week and initiating inspections speaks to the arrogance of Ofsted and their absolute lack of empathy. The claims by Ofsted to make fair or reliable judgements are not credible and this is part of the immense stress and distress for leaders.
This is an agency that is completely out of touch, and which is making claims and judgements which are unreliable. This can’t go on. Ofsted should be concerned about restoring enhanced professionalism to school leaders and education staff but they are not. The NEU believes inspections should be paused.
The Union is campaigning for Ofsted to be replaced. This week a petition to Replace Ofsted will be delivered to the DFE with over 40,000 signatures from across the profession. It’s time we urgently prioritise the welfare and wellbeing of the leaders and staff working so hard with children and young people in their community. We need a system which is supportive, effective and fair.’’
