Speaking at the National Association of Head Teachers conference last week, education secretary Damian Hinds set out plans for what he called “a clearer system of accountability that will let good schools get on with their job”.
He announced a consultation to scrap the “confusing” system of having both floor and coasting standards to measure school performance, and replace it with a “single, transparent data trigger for schools to be offered support”.
He said: “Accountability is vital. Children only get one shot at an education and we owe them the best ... where they are being let down we need to take action quickly – so no-one ends up left behind. But what I’ve found from speaking to many of you these last few months is that there is also real confusion within the sector.”
Mr Hinds said he believed that school leaders needed “complete clarity on how the accountability system will operate”.
Mike Sibley, a school head in Yorkshire, said that while headteachers “warmly welcomed” the notion of a single, transparent measure, heads should “continue to lobby the government to make good on this claim”.
Coasting implies “freewheeling without a care in the world”, Mr Sibley said. “It implies a nice walk with secret coves, hidden wonders and breath-taking views. In reality it is cruel, it is derogatory, and it is unhelpful.”
He continued: “The statistics for coasting schools show a disproportionate amount of disadvantaged schools with transient pupils, where social challenge and chaotic lifestyles make life hard. In a recruitment crisis, try recruiting to a coasting school.”
Mr Hinds added: “I’m clear that Ofsted is the body that can provide an independent, rounded judgement of a school’s performance. This means we will not be forcibly turning schools into academies unless Ofsted has judged it to be inadequate.”
The minister has set out his plans in a policy paper – Principles for a clear and simple school accountability system – published last week.
The policy paper adds: “There will be no more ‘inspections’ of schools by representatives of RSCs (Regional Schools Commissioners). Ofsted is the only body that can form an independent judgement about a school through inspection. RSC representatives going into schools and performing visits that can feel a lot like inspections can be confusing for schools, and can add to workload where there are additional requests for data. This will end.”
The conference also heard from Labour’s shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner. She told delegates that one of her priorities, were she to become secretary of state, would be to restore respect in the teaching profession.
“I think people have lost respect for teachers as a profession, and that has been done because of the deliberate attempts by this government to undermine the teaching profession,” she said.
“I want to respect teachers, I want to pay them appropriately. I want to hold them to account but I want you to do your job in the classroom and be allowed to do your job in the classroom without interference from people like me.”
- Principles for a clear and simple school accountability system, Department for Education, May 2018: http://bit.ly/2FQUWXN