25th December 2019 14:47
By Blue Tutors
The Conservative government have pledged an extra £10m in funding for Ofsted as part of their election campaign. Reported on the BBC, this is in contrast to Labour and the Liberal Democrats approach which would scrap the regulatory body in favour of a new one, considering Ofsted currently to be not fit for purpose.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wants the funding to be put towards longer inspections and “no notice” inspections where schools don’t have time to prepare for an Ofsted visit which will show a less contrived view of each school. An extra day for each inspection would focus on behaviour, bullying and extra-curricular activities. The policy also includes changing the exemption for outstanding schools to receive less frequent inspections.
The leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, Paul Whiteman, reacted to the news by explaining that no notice inspections had already been considered and rejected a number of times, and that the government need to stop “flogging that dead horse”. One of the important aspects of an Ofsted inspection is for them to speak with senior staff and get the assistance required, which might not be possible with a surprise visit.
Layla Moron, the spokesperson for the Lim Dems said that the exemption for outstanding schools has led to thousands of schools going 10 years with any checks, and we could be failing many pupils. Labour were critical of the criteria inspected which doesn’t take into account the background and affluence of the student intake so as to focus on the effect a school has. Although, there have been recent plans announced to address this problem better.