Pause Ofsted
Pause Ofsted inspections until February 2022 half term. Time to rethink the toxic education inspection and accountability system.
Advice
Coronavirus: Ofsted autumn interim visits
Guidance on workload and the Ofsted autumn interim visits
Blog
Ofsted – education inspection framework (EIF)
From September 2019, Ofsted will introduce its education inspection framework (EIF) to, “refocus inspections of schools, early years settings and further education and skills providers, to make sure that learners are receiving a high-quality education that puts them on a path to future success”.
Why is Ofsted venturing so far into the detail of cognitive science?
Warwick Mansell takes a look at some of the contentious ideas about knowledge that appear to be guiding Ofsted’s view of the curriculum.
Press release
UCL research into the teaching of reading
The report adds to the case for abolishing the phonics check and for stepping back from Ofsted’s enforcement of a single approach to the teaching of reading.
Data on School Inspections
Routine inspections have been an unnecessary distraction during this term. Government has recognised this and has at least paused inspections until January, but they must go further.
Education unions call for a pause to routine Ofsted inspections
Education unions call for pause to resumption of routine Ofsted inspections until after February half term.
Ofsted Annual Report
The Government should instruct Ofsted to pause its inspection programme.
Teacher Training Census
Successive Conservative governments have fallen short of their own teacher training targets year on year. 2021 is no different.
Ofsted Inspections
Government ministers are showing, yet again, that they have no understanding of the exhaustion and stress felt by teachers and leaders.
Ofsted Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges
Sexual harassment is still trivialised and normalised throughout society, and we urgently need to boost the focus around both preventing and responding to the sexual harassment.
Ofsted on Teaching Teachers
We urge the Government to fully fund schools to deliver the practical support new teachers need to become confident and competent classroom practitioners, and not risk a further loss to the profession that the system can ill afford.
Stop Toxic Testing
Today, the Union has set out the measures government should take to learn from the failures of the past and to open up our narrow, test-driven and restrictive education system so that it benefits all learners, from the early years to adulthood.
Abolish Ofsted and League Tables
Ofsted is not an agent of change. It is a blunt instrument – a wholly negative presence in schools, never offering constructive advice.
Ofsted
We have long warned that this framework is extremely difficult for primary schools and will force more schools to take their focus away from the needs of the children they teach and towards a rigid view of curriculum.
UCL on School Accountability and Stress
The UCL analysis also highlights cases of schools where stress caused by accountability is higher than in others.
Ofsted Inspections
NEU is pleased that Ofsted has shown sense and further delayed its on-site inspections.
Ofsted on Remote Education
Ofsted's insistence on "monitoring" only adds to the pressure onschools
Ofsted on Covid Isolation
It is hugely concerning that Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) children are not doing as well as their peers in terms of coping with remote learning.
DfE package of measures - 2021 examinations
The Westminster Government’s slow decision-making process on secondary exams and qualifications is better than nothing, but far less helpful than it could have been if it had been made sooner.
Ofsted Annual Report
The best thing Ofsted could do would be to announce that their routine inspections will not begin again this academic year.
Ofsted Report: November
Chief Inspector recognises the work of school leaders in the face of the pandemic but needs to go further to best stand up for schools.
Ofsted Visits
Ofsted visits in the autumn term will be a distraction for schools rather than a support.
Ofsted suspends inspections
This announcement is as welcome as it is overdue. Schools are operating in extraordinary circumstances and must be able to focus on what is essential.
Estyn Suspends Activities in Wales
Scotland and Wales have shown England the way. It is unacceptable for Ofsted inspections to be taking place at a time of national emergency.
NEU backs #PauseOfsted campaign
As the union with the second largest leadership membership, the NEU supports Ethical Leadership and call on members who are additional inspectors to stop working for Ofsted.
Ofsted Annual Report
Ofsted has neither the personnel, the expertise nor the experience, to operate its new curriculum-focused inspection framework fairly, so that reliable results are made on schools and colleges.
Ofsted 'stuck' schools report
Fear of Ofsted is a key factor in school leader and teacher flight from these schools. Ofsted is, unfortunately part of the problem, not the solution.
Ofsted's five-year strategy
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union comments on the publication of Ofsted’s five-year strategy for delivering “its mission of improving the lives of children and young people”.
Conservative plans for Ofsted
The NEU comments on latest Conservative Ofsted pledge.
New Ofsted Framework
NEU has released guidance advising members of their rights during “brutal” Ofsted inspections. The guidance advises members on their contractual responsibilities in light of the new framework.
Labour Party Manifesto
The NEU asked each party to value education and make pledges on funding and the Labour party has met our tests. Labour’s manifesto demonstrates an understanding that schools alone cannot counter the drastic and long-lasting impacts of poverty and class inequality in wider society.
Liberal Democrats Manifesto
NEU welcomes the the Liberal Democrats commitment to abolish primary SATs testing. These tests, beloved of the Government, cause enormous stress and narrowing of the curriculum – they do not produce useful information for teachers.
Green Party Manifesto
The Green Party’s pledge to end centrally-imposed testing and Ofsted inspections is a welcome recognition of the pressures high-stakes accountability places on schools, narrowing the curriculum and driving teachers out of the profession.
Labour to abolish Ofsted
The NEU welcomes Labour’s announcement that it will abolish Ofsted. Labour’s proposal to abolish an overall school grade is long overdue. Schools are too complex to be reduced to a single grade.
Ofsted on teacher wellbeing
Rosamund McNeil, assistant general secretary of the National Education Union has commented on Teacher wellbeing at work in schools and further education providers, published today by Ofsted.
Ofsted Annual Report
Commenting on Ofsted’s Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19, published today, Andrew Morris, Assistant General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
DfE analysis of 'good' and 'outstanding' schools
Commenting on the latest Government analysis, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
Ofsted’s New Inspection Arrangements
Commenting on the new inspection arrangements for Ofsted, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Ofsted is not proposing to abandon data as a key factor in its inspection judgements."
NEU comment on Ofsted consultation
Commenting on Ofsted’s education inspection framework consultation which closes today, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
William Torbitt Primary School
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education comments on the decision by the Department for Education to lift its academy order against William Torbitt Primary School in Redbridge.
Ofsted annual report - 2017
Kevin Courtney comments on the Ofsted Annual Report, presented today by its Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman.
NEU workload survey: DfE and Ofsted need to do much more to reduce teacher workload
The National Education Union has long been concerned that unnecessary practices surrounding marking, planning, and data collection in schools, is having a significant impact on teacher workload.
Ofsted Chief outlines changes to education inspection framework
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary, National Education Union, has commented on the Chief Inspector of Ofsted’s admission that focus on data has been a major factor in schools becoming exam factories.
Ofsted Annual Report
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, has commented on the release of the Ofsted Annual Report
Ofsted consultation on changes to education inspection framework
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary NEU has commented on the launch of Ofsted’s consultation on how it inspects schools, early years settings and further education and skills providers.
EPI on Childcare Workers
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary NEU has commented on new research from the Education Policy Institute, analysing the childcare workforce in England.
Public Accounts Committee report into Ofsted raises significant concerns
The National Education Union believes the current school inspection system is not fit for purpose. There is an inconsistent approach to the use of data and the approach taken by inspectors, and serious concerns about the quality of inspectors.
Government reforms failing to tackle inequality
A UCL report on social mobility confirms what the NEU has been warning about for some years, says Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union.
NEU comment on pupils being excluded from schools in England
The Education Committee report highlights the exclusion of pupils from schools in England - Comment by Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union.