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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE





Ofsted chief attacks ‘outstanding’ schools



The new head of Ofsted is ‘trashing’ the school system by preparing to yet again move the goalposts of school inspection, the NASUWT’s General Secretary has said.



‘Outstanding’ schools will lose their rating unless their teaching is also judged to be outstanding under plans set out by Sir Michael Wilshaw, who argues that too many schools are failing to meet the ‘gold standard’ under current inspection arrangements.



In his first major speech since becoming Chief Inspector of Ofsted, Mr Wilshaw claimed that ‘we have tolerated mediocrity for too long’ and set out what he described as his ‘no excuses’ vision for school inspection.



He signalled a drive towards performance-related pay for teachers by suggesting that Ofsted should begin examining the ‘value for money’ of teachers based on their performance in the classroom. If adopted, this could signal the break-up of the national framework of teachers’ pay and conditions and open teachers’ pay up to the vagaries of Ofsted inspection judgements.



Mr Wilshaw has previously announced plans to introduce unannounced school inspections and scrap the ‘satisfactory’ inspection rating and replace it with ‘requires improvement’. Schools given this rating will be subject to two reinspections within three years and if they have not improved to ‘good’ within this time they will be placed in special measures.



Outstanding headteachers and school leaders are also to be ‘conscripted’ to join Ofsted inspectors on a number of inspections each year to ensure consistency of judgement across schools.



Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary, said that Mr Wilshaw’s drive to rip up the current inspection framework ‘calls into question every Ofsted judgement which has ever been made on any school.’



She denounced Mr Wilshaw’s comments as ‘puerile game-playing’ and questioned how parents and schools will be able to rely on Ofsted and its judgements in future.



“He is trashing the school system, trashing the reputation of Ofsted and removing anything that parents can rely on to judge a school,” she said.





More Ofsted scrutiny



Yet more scrutiny is set to be heaped on teachers by Ofsted after its Chief Inspector attacked standards of literacy in schools.



Sir Michael Wilshaw has claimed that progress in literacy has stalled and has set out plans to make scrutiny of reading and writing standards a higher priority in future Ofsted inspections.



From September 2012, Ofsted will prioritise the inspection of schools with the lowest levels of pupil attainment in literacy and will place greater emphasis on hearing children read during inspections.



Greater scrutiny of schools’ assessment systems will also be introduced, Mr Wilshaw has announced, to ensure that schools are effectively monitoring student progress in reading and writing.



In future, schools will be required to inform parents of their child’s reading age in a bid to boost standards.





Visit www.nasuwt.org.uk/Inspection





(Photo of Melanie Ryding)



Ryding to success



While most teachers would probably agree that teaching is more than a full-time job, one NASUWT member also manages to fit in competing for her country in the gruelling multisport triathlon.



Melanie Ryding [above] juggles a full-time teaching job at Grange Specialist School in Bedfordshire with training and competing at world and European level as a member of Team GB. If that was not enough, she also runs her own health and wellbeing business and online magazine.



Despite the 4.30am starts and hours of daily training, Melanie says that she feels incredibly proud to be able to represent her country, particularly as she only began competing three years ago.



“No words can explain what it is like to pull on the GB suit, knowing you are one of the best in your country in triathlon. It makes me feel incredibly proud each and every time I have the opportunity to race in a European or World Championships.”



Melanie’s best result to date for Team GB is 11th in last year’s European Championships but with support from the NASUWT she is hoping for a top ten finish this time round: “I hope to continue to teach and compete for Great Britain for many years to come. I sincerely thank the NASUWT for the support they have given me in enabling me to carry on with my sporting endeavours.”