Head Teachers have warned that the proposed new one-day Ofsted school inspections could see schools graded as ‘good-ish’ and confuse parents as to what this means.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) criticised the new system proposed by Ofsted, that could see schools which have fallen below a previous “good” rating to escape full inspection for up to three years.
Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of NAHT said: “Until the inspectors return all the school community will be left with is a letter which outlines the misgivings of inspectors but only gives a vague ‘not sure’ or ‘good-ish’ verdict.
“Parents may well wonder what the point of inspection is if it doesn’t tell them how effective their child’s school is and leaves behind more questions than answers,” he said.
At present, any school rated as ‘good’ have a one day inspection every three years. However, this must then ‘convert’ to a full inspection within 2 days if the school no longer meets these standards.
New rules imposed by Ofsted state that if inspectors are unable to determine that the school is still good, they will issue a letter of improvements and inform the school that their next inspection will be a comprehensive one, and would take place within the next three years.
If there are concerns about behaviour or safeguarding the old rules will be followed and the school will receive a full inspection within seven days.
Sean Harford, Ofsted’s National Director of Education, said: “If we are to make the best use of our serving practitioner workforce, then we need to reduce further the number of short inspections that convert.
“We believe this new approach strikes the best possible balance between minimising the inspection burden on schools and Ofsted being able to deliver the short inspection programme.”
A consultation was launched on the proposals this week and this which will run until the 8th November.
