Oh yes - all well documented. Didn't matter. the only thing that mattered to the inspectors was the number of falls per patient. Care commission in Scotland IIRC
Its a while ago now and I don't remember the precise details. Its just an example of where a simplistic quality measure can lead to perverse outcomes
My now retired head teacher pal who worked with special needs kids told me of similar things
Not a teacher, but a Cub leader so wildly different, but it is stressful for those 1.5hrs a week having responsibility for those kids, cant imagine what thats like fulltime!
As a parent OFSTED grade is probably the only metric you have when choosing a school, so the effect of it must be huge on the teachers & easily lead to a feedback loop of conscientious parents taking out the good kids...
as for the title
this is really quite offensive
Teaching & Ofsted = Snowflakes?
because this
There has been the tragic news of a Head Teacher taking their life recently, post receiving the outcome of an Ofsted report, and that is very sad, and it shouldn’t have come to that.
idk maybe im just being snowflakey about it
It didn’t effect the overall rating, but the Leadership domain was critical of what I was doing.
And that's the thing - from what we've seen above, if it were ofsted doing the inspection then it would have.
I have mixed feelings on this. For context, I have two young kids in primary school, my wife is a primary teacher but I work in the private sector. We've talked about this a lot and also with her teacher friends. It's tremendously complicated, I think.
I am scrutinised in everything I do, every time I present to senior mgmt., or in front of my boss, it's scrutiny that feeds performance reviews and ultimately my career prospects. This naturally gives me less sympathy towards the teaching resistance to observation... however that's assuming the assessment is equivalent and I don't think it is.
I do think, that teaching is quite resistant to change and has a culture that has turned observations/ofsted in to something bigger than it is/should be. But, I think as lot of this is down to what Ofsted has become - a cursory review that outputs a (relatively) binary judgement in a mire of conscious and unconscious bias.
My other half, early in her career was in a school that was assessed as requires improvements (equivalent - old standards in place at that time) and took very direct and very unconstructive feedback that directly contributed to the schools rating. The experience took my wife many years to get over, and she confessed that on the way to the work on the second day she seriously considered crashing her car to avoid having to go in. This is someone who has subsequently been rated outstanding on multiple occasions and has led the introduction of new modes of teaching across her academy.
Which then leads you to why. I don't honestly know and we talk about it quite a lot, trying to work through it all. Ofsted reviews are very very brief, taking an incredibly small glimpse; they're trying to KPI things that maybe shouldn't be KPI'd; the level of variance in assessment and quality of assessment is certainly not fair; KPI's can be very much affected by the socio-economic cohort; the ramifications of the rating are huge - far bigger than they should be; a constantly changing 'how you should teach' as education becomes increasingly politicised.... the list could go on.
They're not snowflakes.
The safeguarding and lack of fence issue caught out my local school when I was a governor there. There was a fence (an old chain link one, with a gate) between the carpark and the playground, but because the car park wasn't fenced, and there was a door into the school from that car park that was used by students, the ofsted rating was inadequate for safeguarding, (nevermind that the door was electronically locked, so only the receptionist who sat just beyond it, and staff with passes could open it, and there was a further similarly locked door the other side, forming an airlock.
At great expense a 6 foot security fence and parking barrier was put up around the car park.
Care commission in Scotland IIRC
Ah, right...Heard some "things" about the care commission
The ofsted of the school in question is praised for its pastoral care for children and the kids are noted to be happy, healthy, performing well and behaviour is good, the teachers worked as a team and the parents were supportive of teh school - does that sound inadequate? the school is rates good in all areas apart from one. you get branded with teh lowest grade in any area you get - in this case management - there is little to no opportunity to rectify this prior to external publication.
Ofsted is the reason my wife left teaching (after 18yrs). its hugely stressful, implemented by those with little or no experience and with little to no regard as to how happy and healthy the kids actually are. You can get an 'inadequate' rating even if teh kids are happy and getting good grades. There is no opportunity to do anythign outside of teh prescripted methods required by ofstead even though those methods maybe impractical or not suitable for teh school or the range of abilities at the school.
It is well documented that those schools with higher numbers of SEND childern get lower ofstead gradings (and why school hugely oppose sharing out the SEND kids equally -see Brighton and Hove schools for an example) and this is because the day to day needs of those children do not match the requirements needed for ofsted.
the private school inspection system is much more low key, collaborative and offers assistance to the schools to implement better systems. my wife much prefers this and says its better in every way.
You should avoid this mindset. To stop listening to someone because you don’t like one thing they said or where offended by something means you have closed off your view and mind to information that although you may not agree with can help you understand something from other angles.
I can’t listen to everyone so I have to choose who to listen to. “Snowflake” is a handy heuristic that the chance of my missing something by not listening to the speaker is slim. Likewise “woke”.
as for the title
this is really quite offensive
Teaching & Ofsted = Snowflakes?
because this
There has been the tragic news of a Head Teacher taking their life recently, post receiving the outcome of an Ofsted report, and that is very sad, and it shouldn’t have come to that.
idk maybe im just being snowflakey about it
No - on the BBC this morning both HT's said they thought it was unfair to be rated inadequate. I cant recall the what they preferred but it was just 2 ratings either good or not so good. Teaching is a profession, you should be able to accept standards and measurement of standards.
From what has been stated above the framework for how they get to that rating needs updating. needs updating, but to try and says that schools should be able to be rated as inadequate/bad/shit is wrong.
Teaching is a profession, you should be able to accept standards and measurement of standards.
Few would argue otherwise - it's just that the current system doesn't work.
This naturally gives me less sympathy towards the teaching resistance to observation
I don't think they are, teachers I know through my wife and elsewhere welcome observation and inspection and the chance to have external constructive feedback and chances to improve. It's boiling a whole school, multiple departments and facets, all down finally into one word based on the lowest rating across the facets which is the issue.
Another point which I don't think has been covered. As well as the travesty where it was decided that Outstanding schools didn't require regular inspection, despite changes in leadership changes, etc. - meaning some schools haven't been seen for 10+ years - the opposite also happens. If a school gets one of the low ratings, based on one point perhaps, it can take ages to be formally reinspected and regraded. I know covid in between but the school I referred to above, deemed inadequate because of one major SG issue and a couple of minor observations. My wife doesn't work there any longer but is still friendly with some staff, that inspection was 4 years ago, the issues were fixed in a matter of days, all other aspects were good or outstanding and still the school carries an inadequate rating.
Compare to 'the real world' (tongue in cheek) where some have said they are constantly scrutinised and appraised. Imagine that you made an admin error on your expense form one time - claimed the wrong mileage allowance or something. As a result, the whole of your performance has now been rated as below, and you will carry that rating around for the next three years in spite of what you do in the meantime. Oh, and not just you - everyone else in your Department, because you screwed up.
Fair?
...and a school with a poor rating may well find it more difficult to recruit the best staff and so produce a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's just as well we're not giving SPAG marks for some of these judgemental contributions about education.
From the teachers / head teachers I know: My impressions – I am not a teacher
the measures you are judged on are unrealistic and bear little relation to actual teaching
many of the inspectors have little or no education experienceits adversarial and punitive not collaborative and nurturing. You are marked down on what you are doing wrong not praised for what you do right
It creates huge amounts of unneeded bureaucracy
Its highly prescriptive so no room for innovation and flair and reduces schools and teachers ability to be creative
Scoring can be very arbitrary
the inspections take up huge amounts of time and energy of the staff but add little vvalue
Little note is taken of the starting point of the pupils only the end point. So an excellent set up in a sink estate scores lower than a mediocre set up in a leafy suburb
My wife has been a teacher for 20+ years - this pretty much sums up my views on her OFSTED Experiences.
I've never known another industry where such blind panic ensues as soon as you get the notification of inspection - During previous inspections she has been in School until the early hours the night before preparing for the OFSTED visit.
She's been stressed to the point of making herself ill over these events, which is not acceptable in any workplace (Note - she's not a 'snowflake' she's an experienced professional who just wants to do a good job)
I also work in a tightly regulated industry (Engineering - pressure equipment for Naval Ships) we get adequate notice of periodic inspections from the likes of BSI and our customers/end users inspection teams - they're normally pretty thorough, but the ultimate objective is always a collaborative effort to make things better.
Obviously this would be different if the HSE turned up following an industrial accident, which is totally understandable - but we're talking about periodic evaluation not intervention following an incident.
In my opinion teaching is stressful enough - and the current OFSTED approach is fuelling this - i totally agree Education needs to inspected/evaluated regularly but there must be a better/more effective/less adversarial way of doing it.
Sorry haven't read most of the thread but glad to see it here as was going to start one. I'm not anti inspection, in fact I'm quite pro inspection, however Ofsted is political and highly unfit for purpose.
I have direct experience of the impact their ill informed and down right nasty inspection approach can have.
Large secondary school, wife works there as support staff, son is there as a pupil and I know the head little bit outside of the school. Scholl has been consistently outstanding for years, and had had an inspection for a long time.
Ofsted rock up last summer and trash the school. There were issues of leadership that needed to be addressed and the attitudes of some pupils but these were not stopping the school from being good on the teaching front (the main reason for a school). Ofsted have changed the rules so there is much more emphasis on safe guarding to the point it over shadows everything else and is extreme. This resulted in Outstanding to inadequate in one inspection cycle. Just after Covid when all the norms had gone out the window. Ironically a new deputy head had come in and was already tackling some of the behavioural issues which was pissing the kids off. Ofsted wound up the kids int heir interviews with and the kids didn't realise the impact of mouthing off to the inspectors.
Ofsted clearly came in with a pre-detemrined agenda and executed it. Probably to further the governments agenda for all schools to be part of multi academy trusts by the end of the decade, this school was a stand alone academy.
School knew the outcome of the report before the holidays, weren't allowed to communicate it until Ofsted published months later, the head came very close to being another death, that person has now left the school and teaching completely. Massive changes have been made, the school is forced into being part of a multi academy trust, it's automatic once you get an inadequate rating, no chances to improve, no appeal short of going to the courts.
It's amazing how many schools have gone from outstanding to inadequate in the last year, this is not isolated, schools where Ofsted had failed to carry out inspections for a long time and then came in with a completely different agenda on the back of the most socially disruptive period in this country since the second world war. Ofsted need to be held to account for their abysmal performance and arrogant approach.
In my opinion teaching is stressful enough – and the current OFSTED approach is fuelling this – i totally agree Education needs to inspected/evaluated regularly but there must be a better/more effective/less adversarial way of doing it.
Not to mention that 'pre-announced' audits create an artificial environment for assessment anyway. Is your school outstanding because everyone just killed themselves to look Ofsted ready, or is it outstanding because its always great. Similarly is a poor performance a sign its always poor or that the head made everyone jump through 100 hoops for ofsted coming and a couple of things which are usually ok got dropped in the process. When you compare it to other schools that Ofsted went to that month were the best ones the ones putting on an artificial show and were the worst the ones where the head said, "don't bother even if we tick 100 boxes, they'll find something so lets show them what normal looks like".
No – on the BBC this morning both HT’s said they thought it was unfair to be rated inadequate.
You do realise thought that only people with fairly polarised views go on TV/radio? I mean "I've got a view thats nuanced and quite sensitible" doesn't make good stories. I'm sure teachers in general are not fundamentally opposed to the word inadequate if it is genuinely reserved for those cases where things are so bad the authorities should consider closing the school. If the kids are safe, happy and learning well it seems an irrational label to use even if there are areas for improvement.
The calls to stop inspections are ridiculous. Yes the head should have not been in such a bad place mentally but calling for a stop to inspections is stupid
I think if the inspection regime is doing more harm than good there is a good reason to pause it. I don't think anyone expects there will never be inspections. If I was the head of ofsted I'd have paused inspections if it was implied that my inspectors had caused someone to take their own life. At the very least I would have used that time to review training with inspectors on how they deliver bad reports and the mechanisms for staff to challenge/appeal a judgement. If my aim was to make inspections help drive better education (as it should be) I'd also set up a helpline that lets a head or other SLT member confidentially get support if they have a poor report but also to help ordinary school staff get advice if they think that the head/SLT is wrongly prioritising ofsted prep over pupil education/staff welfare.
Who regulates ofsted? Who measures them to see if 20 years of ofsted reports has actually increased the education levels in the country and closed the attainment gap? How about the number of teachers leaving because ofsted compliance is bigger priority than teaching? Those are metrics DOE should be measuring ofsted on.
I teach in Scotland so not Ofsted. What troubles me about the inspectors here is the power they have to unofficially dictate policy.
When an inspection gets announced the first thing the head does is get on the phone to their heidy pals who've recently been inspected and ask what the inspectors looking for. What ever those things are then get rushed through in the soon-to-be-inspected school, often regardless of whether those things are a good fit in that school. If these things are desirable there should be a proper policy of rolling them out across the country rather than this system of second hand recommendations based on who knows what.
One of the many problems with Ofsted is that some inspectors come with a pre determined result and an 'agenda' - some are akin to Met investigators who had decide who was guilty based on being black or Irish and then go find 'evidence' that props up their pre-judged result.
Interesting reading all the post suggesting that the system is heavily flawed internally and possibly politically.
So why has it taken the death of Head Teacher for this to come to the surface when people here are talking here about 20 years of poor outcomes?
Is it the same as the NHS that things have been getting steadily worse for years, staff have raised it, but neither government or the public has listened until it has really started to affect them ?
I work in the nuclear industry, if our inspections by our internal regulator, ONR or WANO were as binary and unconstructive as the picture painted of OFSTED the whole lot would have been shut down years ago.
We get inspections followed by a meeting with management to discuss the findings. We then get a period of time to make any improvements necessary. We would far rather be pulled up on minor issues than either something major or nothing at all. It's not good if it's your area that needs to improve but there is always something to do. It's more like an MOT with differing levels of improvement rather than pass/fail (unless you really screw up, obviously).
So why has it taken the death of Head Teacher for this to come to the surface when people here are talking here about 20 years of poor outcomes?
It's just taken that for it to make the news, those in education have been talking about the problems for years. And this suicide definitely isn't the first, there was one in Scotland a few years back which lead to an all too temporary change in approach by HMIe*.
*they're not called that now but everyone still calls them that.
Is it the same as the NHS that things have been getting steadily worse for years,
The CQC is badly led, understaffed and the union is currently sounding it's workers voting on strike action I think. COVID has disrupted the normal inspection routine, and for a while now we just get an email telling us something along the lines of "There's nothing indicating that our rating should change" - We're a Good rated GP in a rough-ish neighbourhood. I'm confident that if we got the 48 hour call (the min time limit they can announce an inspection if there's say: A whistle-blown child SG issues been raised) that we'd pass muster. I don't think the CQC is as overtly politized as Ofsted if I'm being honest.
It's been known about for years, it sadly takes events like these before people take notice.
See also Grenfell, successive Govs of all hues failed to act on reports that the cladding materials being used on tower blocks was an issue. They even had a 'near miss' at Lakanal ('only' six died that day) and still didn't act.
And just like Grenfell I suspect nothing really will change here either.
My wife was head of a big department (26 staff) in a big secondary. She had lots of practice that was so good it was rolled out across the authority and other teachers starting similar posts in other schools came to her for advice. When she left she was headhunted for a local authority level post doing similar stuff.
When they were inspected they were rated satisfactory. None of the practice in her dept was praised and the inspectors found several things to criticise. To give an idea of the sort of stuff they picked up on, one of the criticisms was that they had issues around security of confidential documents. This was because when she temporarily left off working on a file and left the room she locked the room door but not the desk drawer where the file was. Apparently the advice is that all confidential files should be behind 2 locked doors at all times. A valid point no doubt but it shows the sort of mean spirited and largely irrelevant nit picking the inspectors engage in. She's enough of a professional to know that's just how it is but it shouldn't be that way.
When I headed up a department in FE we had an Ofsted inspection. Our success figures across every department were consistently above the national benchmark, and in my own area of electrical installation were almost 100%. The inspection started on a Monday morning and inspectors were asked not to observe a particular class (you can do that) as it was being delivered by an agency tutor who was starting on that Monday. Long story short, he was observed. Three times, three f##king times! Nobody else in the whole department was observed and we were castigated because he didn't know his class! Result-Grade 3.
If I'm ever put in front of an Ofsted inspector again it'll be like the scene in Shawshank when Red goes into the parole board hearing at the end and tells them exactly what they need to hear.
Ultimately Hurricane Ofsted blew on to another college or school and we resumed getting virtually all of our students through their qualifications, many of whom were very challenging and, at their stage of life and maturity, almost unemployable.
TLDR: I am, through experience of many inspections, very cynical about Ofsted and their agenda.
From my experience inspections are not done well
I was marked down for having no or little ICT in my lesson. WiFi has been down for 13months.
Inspector saw now learning intentions nor a plenary. They did arrive 10minutes late and leave 10minutes early.
The main issue isn't a professional dialogue about standards (which it isn't) but the fact it gives parents a stick to beat teachers and schools with and in the modern world the kids to.
A few people have posted about the work / stress of preparing for inspection.
Is that not odd in itself? Surely an inspection should be an evaluation of how the school normally operates, not how well they've prepared for them coming in.
I remember thinking this back when I was still at school, it struck me as pointless even when I was a teenager.
Interesting reading all the post suggesting that the system is heavily flawed internally and possibly politically.
So why has it taken the death of Head Teacher for this to come to the surface when people here are talking here about 20 years of poor outcomes?
Have you been living in a bubble? Every teacher in England has been complaining about Ofted since it was created, and it seems like they've been getting more vocal every year. Absolutely the question should be why did the media only pay attention when someone dies, or probably more to the point when someone managed to get a viral tweet about it? Because its not new. In fact everyone in teaching will tell you its a significant factor in teacher retention, and that gets media attention. Of course league table and headline catching "reports" make good stories. Schools making steady progress doesn't sell papers. Teachers angy about Ofsted doesn't sell papers either - ofsted so bad teacher commits suicide - OMG thats an editors wet dream.
All my teacher friends have either retired early on gone part time and ofsted is a large factor
an extreme example, ofsted is in on monday, on sunday night the school perimetre fencing falls down due to high winds, the school is no longer secure, it fails at safeguarding marked ‘inadequate’
doesnt matter that the kids grades have improved ten fold..
Is that actually wrong?
It's unfortunate timing for sure, but I'm less convinced that "the kids weren't unsafe for very long" is an adequate explanation. What state of repair was the fence in prior to its collapse? What measures should the school have had in place to effect an emergency repair in the event of an incident? Did they keep the children indoors until the fence was fixed? "I'm sorry we had to peel your child off the M6, but you see, the fence only collapsed last night."
a parent Governor still hadn’t done their Safeguarding training and if the school was to be inspected, it would receive a “requires improvement” based solely on that!!
... Good?
You've got someone working with children who hasn't completed safeguarding training and that doesn't "require improvement"? The required improvement being "ensure all staff complete mandatory training"?
If they aren't "student-facing" then it may still suggest that the school perhaps isn't taking its training seriously. Even if it is a single isolated oversight, it has to be flagged up surely? If there's a serious incident a week later it'll be headline news, there will be fury erupting all over the Mail and Express about multiple failings that went ignored.
From reading comments here it sounds like the current implementation of Ofsted isn't fit for purpose and needs an overhaul. After all, who watches the watchers? But I find it hard to rationalise that the concept of inspections is a bad thing (and when I'm in charge they'll have random unannounced spot checks). If there's any organisation which really should have regular impartial checking by a third party, it's childcare and healthcare.
... which makes total sense.
I think there is more to this than just the Ofsted inspection. There will be an enormous amount of pressure to maintain a good measure, or to improve. That pressure will come from the board of governors, the academy trust and parents (curent and prospective). Ofsted is just an instrument of the overall process.
This was because when she temporarily left off working on a file and left the room she locked the room door but not the desk drawer where the file was. Apparently the advice is that all confidential files should be behind 2 locked doors at all times. A valid point no doubt but it shows the sort of mean spirited and largely irrelevant nit picking the inspectors engage in.
Not following a procedure is nit-picking now? The rules are there for a purpose, whether you agree with it or not. And not following it while being assessed would indicate things would be even more lax during normal operation.
Again, industry, blah blah, auditor, blah, Lead assessor
You have rules. Follow rules. Record everything or it didn't happen.
I think there is more to this than just the Ofsted inspection.
Undoubtedly.
No-one of otherwise sound mind takes their own life over a bad work review. It's likely that such a thing was the tipping point for the unfortunate teacher, but it cannot have been the only factor.
No-one of otherwise sound mind takes their own life over a bad work review.
the highest rate of suicides among chefs is for those who have Michelin Stars, the more they have (and thus more to lose) the higher the rate.
No-one of otherwise sound mind takes their own life over a bad work review. It’s likely that such a thing was the tipping point for the unfortunate teacher, but it cannot have been the only factor.
I think that's possibly right - the entire sector has been under-resourced and over-worked for a long time.
Edit just to add that characterising Ruth Perry's suicide as a response to "a bad work review" feels a little tasteless.
this is only on the reported examples. Many leave the profession or signed off due to mental health issues. The industry does not support staff. If you are good then they make you do more of it, as you become a commodity they cannot afford to lose or replace within the 5 year life span. Have more lessons, do more marking, have some more CPD just incase the call from ofsted comes.
Its fear from top down, small wonder no one wants to do the job and its not about the holidays or the money.
I believe there is a fixed ceiling based the outcomes on certain areas of the report so no matter how good you are in some areas its not reflected in the final judgement.
Oftsed does what the politicians want from it, to provide soundbites on them appearing to raise standards, not settle for mediocrity blah blah blah, but it doesn't actually improve standards within schools in a sustainable way. They are make or break moments for heads and other stakeholders based upon a small snapshot.
The system needs to be supportive where collaboration between schools is encouraged and not just between MATs or teaching school alliances, but for that to happen you need to free up time in a profession where they simply don't have the time or staff.
I spent 10 years as a HoD and went through a number of different inspections and actually relished the challenge, but it takes its toll. I now also work with schools looking at targeted school improvement to help with ofsted.
I did come across one very good inspector though on my first visit as an NQT. A young girl got stuck in a chair in one of my lessons by sitting sideways on it through the arm. Cue 20 mins trying to get the thing off and the caretaker coming in with a hacksaw. Chair off....inspector suddenly appears. Lesson was awful after that point. Luckily I found her and spoke to her about what had happened and she said she wished she'd seen it. She gave a really good report saying the learning wasn't great basically but the teaching was good considering what had happened.
but it cannot have been the only factor.
It surely can't, but at the same time, if I was head of Ofsted , and I thought for a second that an inspection was even 'just' a contributory factor in a suicide, I'd at least have the balls to publicly suggest that some reflection of how my organisation goes about it's business may be appropriate
you'd like to believe that people have compassion somewhere and are reflective of the impact of their actions. Alas the classic trope is one must think of the children
Not following a procedure is nit-picking now? The rules are there for a purpose, whether you agree with it or not. And not following it while being assessed would indicate things would be even more lax during normal operation.
For some reason I've got a vision of you in a reflective jacket with a clipboard.
Seriously, read my post again, I acknowledged that rules is rules but my point was the wider context of zero praise and criticism of every tiny thing, that's not a healthy culture.
Cougar
After all, who watches the watchers?
The least fit-for-purpose, most overtly corrupt government we've had in living memory.
Trying to do valuable work as a regulatory body is impossible due to one simple fact; they ultimately report to a government that is anti-regulation.
And people here are surprised OFSTED and CQC don't function?
We're at the end of a 13 year program of systematic underfunding in all aspects of public services. I suspect the complaints around ofsted's approach are reaching a crescendo now because next year schools are going to be under even more financial pressure as a result of unfunded pay rises. My partner's large primary is going from running a surplus of 1/2 a million per year to a deficit of 1/4 despite the fact they couldn't attract LSAs and other staff due to their hands being tied on wages so were understaffed. They're going to have to lose staff. About 10% if my sums are correct, and lose the minibus and a load of other stuff they did to make school a good experience. They're being set up to fail. My partner got the school from required improvement when she went in there to good. There's little chance of it getting to outstanding now. I keep telling her to leave and get a management role in the private sector.
There was a HT suicide in Plymouth a few years ago after inspection. My partner knows the HMI.
Undoubtedly.
No-one of otherwise sound mind takes their own life over a bad work review. It’s likely that such a thing was the tipping point for the unfortunate teacher, but it cannot have been the only factor.
It's not just a bad work review is it? It's a very public negative review. Probably criticising everything you've spent your entire career working towards and, since the alleged issues were with management, directly pointing the blame at the head. In another environment, you might disappear into a different business and learn from the experience. In teaching there's a near state monopoly on teachers and it would be difficult for a head teacher to leave and find another job in their profession without this very public review following them. Now obviously lots of people get and deal with that sort of issue, but I'll bet nobody has ever run any training for HTs on how to cope professionally and personally with bad Ofsted reports. If schools round here are anything to go by there would be mental health first aiders around - but they will all be subordinate to the HT so its not really a realistic expectation for them to turn to there. A supportive employer would probably have MHFAs within a cohort from of HTs from other schools and indeed a support infrastructure for neighbouring heads to support each other. And I would certainly not hold the governers harmless if their HT commits suicide as a result of work related issues. BUT ofsted's job is to go and find the schools where there are problems which means schools with poor LA (or other employer) support and unsuportive governors should be exactly the sort of problem school they expect to have to give negative feedback to. Its therefore totally foreseeable that they could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. If head teachers published the report cards for all pupils on the web with no opportunity to challenge the content I'd imagine Ofsted might be making negative comments about the potential impact on pupil welfare.
I acknowledged that rules is rules but my point was the wider context of zero praise and criticism of every tiny thing
You don't go into work day in and day out for the compliments. If that was the case teachers wouldn't be striking for more pay, they'd be begging for someone to say their hair looked nice.
"Criticism of a tiny thing" in your mind is an auditors "symptom of widespread non-conformity"
It's like the stories above about being at work til midnight getting things ready for the inspection. It should be right, all the time.
My daughters school has recently gone from outstanding to inadequate. The teaching is still 'good' so not about them. It's about built-in, systematic failure in safeguarding and reporting.
It was so bad, the local authority had to be informed about some incidents that the school had barely recorded, not investigated and was allowed to go on for years without any improvement.
Without Ofsted it would still be like that, rather than being dragged into compliance. Doesn't make the scandal sheets though.
