The decision by Sir Martyn Oliver, the new head of Ofsted, to pause inspections while training is delivered to school inspectors is the very least that should have been expected, following last month’s verdict at the inquest into the death of Ruth Perry. The ruling that Ofsted contributed to the headteacher’s suicide a year ago, after her primary school was downgraded to inadequate, confirmed the worst fears of those who have warned for years of the pressure placed on schools by the inspectorate. The online briefing on teacher welfare announced by Sir Martyn’s predecessor, Amanda Spielman, was rightly rejected as an insultingly inadequate response to the coroner’s prevention of future deaths notice. Sir Martyn’s announcement of a pause while training is given is a marked improvement.
So is his acknowledgment of the strain that schools are now under, as they confront fresh challenges including a rise in absenteeism – with a record number of fines issued to parents for taking children on term-time holidays – and deteriorating pupil behaviour, which is linked to a lack of support for mental health and other social difficulties. A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) last month noted that schools have borne up well, relative to other public services, during a decade of cuts rounded off by the pandemic. But with teacher recruitment targets repeatedly missed and serious problems around special needs provision, as well as the issues already mentioned, there is no room for complacency at Ofsted, the Department for Education or any of the other institutions that oversee the school system in England.
