During the spring term, Ofsted HMIs are carrying out monitoring inspections of schools and colleges previously graded inadequate or requires improvement. The inspections are currently taking place remotely, until at least March 8 2021.
Routine Ofsted inspections have been suspended due to Coronavirus: now is the time to rethink the toxic education inspection and accountability system.
Guidance on workload and the Ofsted autumn interim visits
The new Ofsted inspection framework is focused on the quality of the school’s curriculum, and as a school leader, you have difficult decisions to make to balance staffing with budget in your school.
The new Ofsted inspection framework is putting increasing pressure on members, particularly primary subject leaders and this is due to problems with school funding and staff recruitment which the new framework does not take into account.
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”.
Warwick Mansell takes a look at some of the contentious ideas about knowledge that appear to be guiding Ofsted’s view of the curriculum.
Ofsted is not an agent of change. It is a blunt instrument – a wholly negative presence in schools, never offering constructive advice.
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.
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.
The UCL analysis also highlights cases of schools where stress caused by accountability is higher than in others.
NEU is pleased that Ofsted has shown sense and further delayed its on-site inspections.
Ofsted's insistence on "monitoring" only adds to the pressure onschools
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.
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.
The best thing Ofsted could do would be to announce that their routine inspections will not begin again this academic year.
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 in the autumn term will be a distraction for schools rather than a support.
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.
Scotland and Wales have shown England the way. It is unacceptable for Ofsted inspections to be taking place at a time of national emergency.
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 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.
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.
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”.
The NEU comments on latest Conservative Ofsted pledge.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Commenting on Ofsted’s Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19, published today, Andrew Morris, Assistant General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
Commenting on the latest Government analysis, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
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."
Commenting on Ofsted’s education inspection framework consultation which closes today, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
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.
Kevin Courtney comments on the Ofsted Annual Report, presented today by its Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman.
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.
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.
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, has commented on the release of the Ofsted Annual Report
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.
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary NEU has commented on new research from the Education Policy Institute, analysing the childcare workforce in England.
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.
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.
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.
