School leaders’ union NAHT reject Ofsted’s revised approach

At the start of this academic year, Ofsted published its response to a consultation on changes to education inspections, alongside an independent wellbeing impact assessment of the revised framework. 

Within the independent review, Ofsted were given five recommendations that they have deemed as priority actions. These include:

• Reducing the isolation and individual responsibility felt by leaders
• Investing in the wellbeing and professional development of inspectors
• Introducing a clear mechanism for independence in the complaints process
• Developing a clear protocol for responding to individuals in distress
• Monitoring the unintended consequences of the revised framework

However, the school leaders’ union, NAHT, believes Ofsted has ignored the feedback from those in the profession. Now, school leaders have rejected the revised inspection approach following a snap poll. 

91 per cent of school leaders said the changes would have a negative (33 per cent) or very negative (58 per cent) impact on their wellbeing.

NAHT’s response

Paul Whiteman, general secretary NAHT, said: “It is abundantly clear that Ofsted’s new approach to inspection poses a direct risk to the health and wellbeing of school leaders. 

“The inspectorate had the opportunity to really listen to the profession – instead it has been determined to stick to a model that was overwhelmingly rejected when unveiled earlier this year.

“The independent wellbeing impact assessment is frankly damning. It speaks of an inspectorate that has completely lost the trust of the profession, that has failed to properly listen to teachers and leaders, and whose own inspectors have low morale. Most importantly, it finds the revised framework ‘does not reduce the pressure on leaders to achieve a desirable outcome’. Given these findings, it is remarkable that Ofsted plans to press ahead with its plans this term.

“What happens next will be key. To be clear, given the findings of the independent wellbeing impact assessment, NAHT believes these proposals should not go ahead in their current state. To do so would be to continue to put the wellbeing and safety of school staff at risk.

“As a bare minimum, there now must be a clear commitment to independently monitor and evaluate the impact of any new approach. The risks of not doing so are simply too high.”