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I agree with Tom Bennett's views on a number of important issues, not least his views on Ofsted in England. We need accountability measures in our education system but the current formula for Ofsted is not 'it'. Here Tom describes his experiences and his views via 'Teacher Network':
Michael Wilshaw is a great guy, but Ofsted is devastating education
Right now it is devastating education. I think the head of Ofsted, Michael Wilshaw, and Mike Cladingbowl [Ofsted’s national director] are great guys. I’ve met them several times and they have a genuine commitment to reform. They really want schools to be good – there’s no secret agenda. The problem is that Ofsted appears to be an enormous bureaucracy that won’t be steered. Depending on an inspector’s own personal prejudices on what constitutes good education they will damn or praise a school, and find a way of doing it that can’t be legally challenged. It’s made schools frightened of their own shadow. Instead of focusing on what makes a great school, so many people try to second guess Ofsted, and that’s dreadful. If even someone like Wilshaw can’t steer the boat in the right direction, then it needs to be removed and rebuilt.
For a start, I’d get rid of the outstanding grade. Ofsted is simply not subtle enough to tell us what a fantastic school looks like, because it could be so many things. We need an accountability system, but it needs to be about passing and failing. I think Ofsted should assess the leadership and then the senior team should be allowed to run the school as they see fit, as long certain standards are being met. There’s so much behind a judgement number that it simply can’t encapsulate what goes on in a school.
