A school leader recently asked me: “Do people in Ofsted not understand the pressures schools are under?” Coming after an academic year when Ofsted made little allowance for the impact of Covid in schools, the final straw for many was Ofsted continuing to inspect schools last year in the final week of term despite forecasts of an extreme heatwave.
The school leader’s question was a cri de coeur likely to be echoed by headteachers across England. I responded that his majesty’s inspectors (HMIs) all have school experience and do understand the pressures. It is Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, and her advisers who do not, given their lack of teaching experience coupled with a culture of meeting targets at all costs.
