‘Schools need inspecting but not like this’

School conversations have been dominated by one word: Ofsted. And what a range of feelings that word evokes. As a former head who continues to work with school leaders, my feelings are complex.

I believe it is right that anyone in a public sector position is held to account. For those of us in schools, this means proper scrutiny not only of the standard of education provided but also how we keep young people safe in our care.

We need a body like Ofsted to do this work and to challenge us when provision isn’t as good as it can be. But I question whether the current inspection model ensures that happens in an appropriate way.

The two days of an inspection are fuelled by adrenaline, caffeine and little sleep. Conversations with inspectors the day before they arrive give a good indication of how the process will go: they have already done a desktop evaluation of your school, and looking up the biographies of the inspectors available online means you know who you are up against.

The inspections can feel like a clinical process of intensive information gathering – but one in which you need your wits about you, in order to keep making your case when you feel that unfair judgments are being formed.

But worse than the inspections themselves is the time between inspections. A colleague describes it as “a form of prolonged torture waiting for public trial and execution”.

Horror stories spread like wildfire among headteachers, trusts and local authorities desperate to avoid the pitfalls that have caught out others.

The result of an inspection is a detailed report but all that matters to the community is the summarising grade. A single word: outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate .

Regardless of the grade, it is a burden for every headteacher. If the word is negative, you are publicly humiliated and could lose your job. There is also the devastating impact on your school community – a downward spiral of pupil and staff exodus that is difficult to reverse. If it’s positive, that’s great for now. But woe betide the grade ever dropping on your watch.

I can understand why headteachers I know would miss funerals and ignore their own medical emergencies so they could be in their school on inspection day. Part of your job as a headteacher is to be the shield that enables teachers to get on with their job. That means putting on a brave public face while still working under intolerable pressure.

Right now, the challenges facing school leaders are enormous. They need supportive words and they also need challenge – but not punitive judgments.