On Friday and Saturday, Head Teachers congregated in Harrogate for the NAHT national conference with the quality of Ofsted, ‘forced academisation’ and new phonics tests all on the agenda.
As the Union which mainly represents Primary School Leaders, the Governments’ programme of ‘academisation’ for primaries deemed to be underperforming was a hot topic of debate; four motions condemning ‘forcing schools to become academies’ were carried by delegates. The debates were followed by reports in Monday’s Guardian highlighting the situation in Birmingham where a number of Primary Schools claim that despite showing ‘real improvement’ they are being ‘forced into academy status.’
In his speech to the conference, Education Secretary Michael Gove appeared to try to appease delegates on a number of key issues.
Gove told the conference that he understood the profession’s concerns over schools in a category having to show a greater than average level of progress, and the stress this caused. He promised: “No school or Head will be penalised for moving in the right direction. We must not put anything in the way of these people, whose moral purpose drives them towards the most challenging schools,” adding that Heads demanded to be judged fairly. “It’s more than a compromise, it’s a new way forward,” he promised.
Gove used the speech to respond to opposition to the introduction of No Notice Ofsted Inspections. The Education Secretary seemed to signal that this proposal could be dropped following the consultation on changes to Ofsted, stating:
"People fear it [no-notice inspection] sends a message that we don't trust the profession, that Ofsted has become an arm of the Spanish Inquisition or Sean Connery's Untouchables, that they have to be ready to storm in without any notice in order to deal with something that has gone drastically wrong. That was never the intention….teachers and heads deserve to have the chance to know when an Ofsted inspection is coming and to be there in order to present the best face of the school".
The Education Secretary also talked of the possibility of paying inspectors more to ensure that they were of the highest quality, encouraged Head Teachers to come forward to become inspectors themselves, and attacked the media for not reporting widely enough the OECD pronouncement that English school leaders are some of the best in the world.
Shadow Secretary of State, Stephen Twigg, used his wide-ranging speech to talk about the consultations he had instigated to explore a new ‘middle tier’ for accountability and the foundation of an Office for Educational Improvement which would consider and commission research to underpin policy making.
“Whether schools wish to seek greater autonomy is a choice that should rest locally and Labour has been clear about this. However, what concerns me is the absence of early warning systems and accountability mechanisms in place for some schools that have taken this course. The functions that have traditionally been fulfilled by local authorities - with varying degrees of success - are now left with individual schools,” said Mr Twigg.
He also highlighted a proposal by Dr John Dunford, who is leading the consultation on his proposal for an Office of Educational Improvement, for the appointment of Area HMIs who are ‘charged with monitoring performance of schools in their area, getting to know Head Teachers and keeping an ear to the ground for good and bad practice in local schools.’”
Mr Twigg called on the Government to ‘think again’ in relation to the Phonics Test. This call was echoed by delegates who threatened to boycott the new grammar tests for 11 year olds and reading tests for six year olds if the Government used the results to rank schools.
Reporting on the decision in its typical measured and reasonable tone, a Daily Mail column headline stated “The National Association of Head Teachers has undertaken an evil conspiracy to create an illiterate Britain”!
Ofsted and its Chief Inspector, Michael Wilshaw were the target of much of the anger from the conference floor. The NAHT raised concerns that inspections were "too variable" and "too subjective" and that inspectors were arriving at schools with their minds already made up about performance. The Chief Inspector was accused of "bully boy tactics" and a motion was stating that the Union was "both saddened and dismayed" by the approach taken by Mr Wilshaw was supported by over 98% of delegates.
A spokeswoman for Ofsted said: "Ofsted has been listening to the views of Head Teachers, teacher and parents about its proposed changes to school inspections and will announce the results of its consultation at the end of the month.
"The intention is to work closely with good Heads as they drive improvement in their schools."
The conference also included the launch of two new initiatives to support schools. Russell Hobby, NAHT General Secretary announced plans to establish a pool of high performing Head Teachers who would act as mentors to those at schools facing the threat of failing their inspection, and Schools View, a new website to collect evidence of School Leader’s experiences of Ofsted inspections.
