By Richard Johnstone | 31 October 2014
An independent review of the work of Ofsted must be held to address concerns about the independence and credibility of the schools watchdog following a number of ‘media driven’ revisions to its inspection ratings, councils have said.
The Local Government Association said that there was a need for an examination of the inspectorate after what it called ‘dramatic u-turns on inspection judgments’ in schools that had received adverse publicity.
Cases such as the five schools involved in the Trojan Horse' investigation in Birmingham were among cases where schools were ratings were downgraded by the watchdog from ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’, sometimes in under a year. The umbrella group for local authorities also highlighted that children services in the London Borough of Haringey were downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’ once the Baby P scandal broke in the media.
Such changes undermined confidence in the validity of all its inspections, David Simmonds, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said.
‘Mums and dads put their trust in Ofsted’s ratings when they pick a school for their children and its inspections can have implications for the most vulnerable children in our care.
‘Councils, communities and parents need to know Ofsted and the chief inspector are independent and free from political influence and we need an independent review to discover what has gone wrong and restore faith in what is fast becoming a media-driven organisation.’
Ofsted’s knee-jerk response to a scandal seems to be to re-inspect school and declare it failing, but not every scandal will be true, Simmonds added.
‘In cases where we have seen schools go from outstanding to special measures within a few years, which verdict is to be believed? This is not a defence of underperformance; there is no place for it in our schools and children’s services. We want to know that when Ofsted go into a school, they are being fair and impartial and are not playing to the court of public opinion.’
Responding to the call for an independent review, an Ofsted spokesman said it had raised the inspection bar for both education and care services by getting rid of the old ‘satisfactory’ judgement for services.
This has galvanised those inspected to improve, he added.
‘Ofsted’s job is to hold every institution to account and to report without fear or favour. We make no apology for championing the interests of those who rely on the services we inspect nor for bringing our findings to wider public attention. Shining a spotlight on under-performance, however uncomfortable, helps bring about change.
‘But it is simply incorrect to suggest our inspection judgements are influenced by anything other than the evidence we find. We know that previously high performing institutions can deteriorate rapidly when they suffer staff turbulence or a sudden change in leadership.’
However, Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the watchdog no longer had the confidence of the teaching profession and was fatally flawed.
‘In this regard we are prepared to support an independent review, but nothing short of Ofsted’s abolition and replacement will be a sufficient outcome.
‘In Ofsted’s place, we need a new system of school accountability and school improvement. This should be based on school self-evaluation, with collaboration and support between schools.’
