Ofsted changes will make education system less transparent, says Shadow Education Secretary
Changes to the way Ofsted grades schools will make the education system less transparent, according to Shadow Education Secretary Damian Hinds.
He told GB News: “Ofsted inspection is a very important part of our system of education and making sure that all children are getting the education that they deserve.
“And of course, children only get one chance at education. It’s important to get that system right. It’s important that it should be supportive to schools and to headteachers.
“But it’s also true that the overall assessment summary is a really vital piece of information for parents and this move today takes that away without adding anything else.
“It’s right to look at a broader range of things, but an Ofsted report is not one word. It’s usually about 1,400 words and assesses schools on four different areas and gives a narrative as well. There’s lots of other indicators about schools as well.
“You were just talking about absence and attendance, that’s another indicator that we publish on schools, rightly, as well as attendance and the progress that pupils make.
“This move today takes away a piece of information, takes away a piece of transparency, but without adding any and Ofsted will still have the legal responsibility to identify schools that need to go into special measures, but that will in future be somewhat less transparent.”
He added: “The tragedy of Ruth Perry shook everybody in that local community, that school community, of course, but also the wider education community.
“It’s right, absolutely right, necessary, to have looked again at the way things work following that and we made some changes soon after it, in terms of the way the inspections worked, and what happened in those cases where the only thing on which the school had been graded inadequate would be something around compliance, around safeguarding.
“We also welcomed doing this broader listening exercise…about how to improve the system. We did think the system could improve further.
“But it’s also the case that the overall summary assessment of a school is a vital indicator for parents and we think it plays, has played up until now, a very important role. We’ve never said it’s the only thing, and it should never be the only thing…
“The overall summary assessment is also very important and, as I say, taking it away today removes some information, removes some transparency, it doesn’t actually change the fact that some schools still will go into special measures.
“By law, Ofsted must identify those and still the Department for Education will intervene in certain cases, and that will include changes of management, but it will be less transparent in future.”
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