Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders' union NAHT,
said: “We welcome the chief inspector’s openness to change at
Ofsted and are hopeful this consultation will build on our early
conversations about the fundamental reform which is so
desperately needed.
"The current inspection regime has caused untold harm to the
mental health and wellbeing of school leaders and their staff,
adding to stress and workload while often failing to give a fair
or balanced judgement on schools’ strengths and weaknesses.
“School leaders are passionate about helping all children,
including the most vulnerable, to flourish. Ofsted has too often
hindered rather than helped them in this mission.
“We have already made a strong case for a series of positive
recommendations for change in our recent report
Rethinking School
Inspection. We are clear that far-reaching reform is needed,
including an end to the blunt single-word grades which can cause
so much damage to schools and their staff.
“It is vital that the views of school leaders are heard properly
during this listening exercise and the responses of
representative organisations such as the NAHT are given due
weight. Even more important is that they are acted upon quickly
by Ofsted and the government.”
