The way schools are assessed is in need of a big change. That's according to an inquiry into the way Ofsted regulates educational institutions in the UK. The investigation found the governmental department to be toxic and not fit for purpose. But what do those who work in schools think? Neil is a former teacher and shares his experiences.
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00:00 I had lots of Ofsted inspections in my lessons, so it's something I've certainly got a lot
00:07 of personal experience of and yeah I would say suffocating rather than toxic is the word.
00:13 The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, or Ofsted, is responsible
00:18 for examining the standards at any institution which provides education for young people
00:23 in England. They regularly send inspectors into schools to assess the quality of the
00:27 services provided, but now an inquiry has recommended this direct contact be put to
00:33 an end.
00:34 My name's Neil Fatkin. I work for 17 years as a teacher in secondary schools, as a drug
00:40 reteacher, also running heads of department and head of humanities. Unlike an assessment
00:46 process in other industries where you're working with rational adults or it may be machinery
00:52 or IT or some form of technology, obviously when you're dealing with children there are
00:57 so many things which are outside of your control before that child arrives in school that day
01:01 which can have a massive impact on how your lesson goes or indeed how your day goes in
01:06 school. That's one of the reasons why I think when the inspectors come in it does feel unfair
01:13 that they make a snapshot judgment whether it's on you as an individual or the school
01:17 in such a short space of time.
01:19 The beyond Ofsted inquiry, chaired by former Schools Minister Lord Knight and funded by
01:23 the National Education Union, has found the governmental department to be toxic and not
01:28 fit for purpose. Alongside an end to in-person inspections, they propose getting rid of single-word
01:34 judgments like outstanding or inadequate, claiming they're too simplistic to describe
01:39 a whole school.
01:40 Most of my lessons were judged as good, but as I said I did have one or two disappointments
01:43 where an inspector may have given it requires improvement and yeah you really do take that
01:49 to heart because of the emotional investment you've got in the children and also the feeling
01:54 you know have you let your colleagues down, have you let your school down. You know I
01:56 had teachers who have lost their jobs as a result of schools you know being deemed requires
02:01 improvement or indeed inadequate which obviously you can imagine the kind of pressure which
02:06 you feel you know when you've got an inspection team come in and make a snapshot judgment
02:11 which could result in I suppose yeah a headteacher ultimately losing their job which I have seen
02:16 happen.
02:17 The school has thought the pressure put on schools and their staff by inspections is
02:20 too high, underscored by the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry earlier in the year. Lord Knight
02:26 told BBC Breakfast, "It's created a culture of fear in our schools and if anybody thinks
02:31 that fear is the basis for sustained improvement rather than support, then I think they've
02:35 got it completely wrong."
02:36 I do still feel there does still need to be an independent body which does assess school
02:42 performance. Instead reports are one of the main ways in which parents can assess and
02:46 see how schools are doing and how you know how teaching staff and school is can be held
02:51 to account.
02:52 In response to the inquiry Ofsted said inspections are needed to ensure a high quality education.
02:57 A spokesperson said children only get one chance at education and inspection helps make
03:01 sure that education standards are high for all children.