Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman went before the House of Commons education committee this week for an accountability hearing, as well as to give evidence on safeguarding in schools, following on from the publication last week of Ofsted’s review into sexual abuse in schools and colleges.
Chair of the committee, Robert Halfon MP, opened by asking why Ofsted had not picked up on particular safeguarding issues, noting that Ofsted had ‘inspected many schools and passed them off as “good” or “outstanding” and did not uncover safeguarding issues’. Amanda Spielman defended her time as Chief Inspector, arguing that when the new inspection framework was developed, a safeguarding strand was built in and made more explicit. Alongside that, she noted that Ofsted had carried out training and put out further guidance for inspectors.
When asked if there should be an offshoot of Ofsted or an independent safeguarding body, Amanda Spielman said that Ofsted had been dealing with safeguarding for many years, and had done an ‘immense amount of work to bring the safeguarding expertise that sits in social care together’, creating an effective central safeguarding team.
Following on from the session on safeguarding, the committee moved to a general accountability session. Amanda Spielman was asked about her recent reappointment as Chief Inspector for a further two years, and if this extension is to ensure continued stability for the sector during the Covid recovery period.
Amanda Spielman said that the likely 18-month interruption of routine inspections caused by the pandemic had disrupted much of what she had hoped to accomplish in her initial five-year term. She hoped that routine inspections would be returning in September, but recognised that schools and children had been differentially affected by the pandemic, and that this must be addressed fairly.
In terms of those developments she wants to build on, Amanda Spielman pointed towards initial teacher education and the early-career framework, developments in the post-16 world, and the continuing growth of academisation and operation of schools in groups. Asked about her most significant achievement, she pointed towards the new inspection framework, which ‘involved a shift of emphasis to make sure that we were getting underneath published results to get very deeply into the substance of education’.
On what should change, Amanda Spielman expressed concerns around the position of MATs, and that currently Ofsted is constrained to operate at the individual school level. Additionally, she said she wanted to make sure that ‘the diagnosis process that Ofsted operates contributes as much value as it can’.
It is encouraging that Amanda Spielman does recognise the importance of inspections that reflect not just grades but also wider personal development. Schools North East will continue to lobby to ensure that as we leave the pandemic, inspections do accurately take into account the hard work schools in our region do, both during the past year and in normal circumstances.
