Head teacher kills herself over OFSTED

Iam64

Glorianny

My GCs certainly do the Flossing dance. They tried teaching me! If that is "evidence of sexualised behaviour" it's ridiculous. I thought we got past those sort of ideas when people did things like the Twist. Oh dear!Just remembered mine were trying to twerk the other day!!

Thanks Glory - I agree with your comparison between the flossing dance and the twist and like you, had assumed the days of moral outrage were left in the 1950’s.
One of our local schools has been marked from outstanding (20 years) to needing improvement, on safeguarding issues. The published report says some children were heard using racist or homophobic comments in the corridor. A child was not referred to as they, when this had been requested. Exam results remain excellent. The school has been over subscribed in the 40 years since I had children applying for high school.

I agree that schools should be accountable but is Ofsted fit for purpose. I remember Ofsted in the organisation I worked in. One inspector was excellent. But the nonsense about the focus in tick box exercises rather than in depth investigation of a long piece of work left me feeling it wasn’t identifying best/worst practice in a meaningful way

No school can completely change the language and the opinions children are fed at home You can do your best to modify them but away from supervision they will revert to what they are used to. It isn't the school's failure. This is actually a class judgement. Schools with nice middle class families will have more acceptable views, poorer areas will have more families with different values.

I'm horrified for the woman and her family and her friends and her school and the inspectors but agree with you that the inspection team had no option.

I hear what you say; but my concern is about the system itself.

We need inspectors who, if they find such problems, have the remit to sit down and work with the head and the governors to sort it out - in other words do something positive to improve the situation, rather than writing a damning public report and walking away as if it has nothing to do with them.

The whole OfSted system arose out of a desire for window-dressing to convince the public that something was ostensibly being done to raise educational standards. It was ill thought through and ignored the need for support to schools to improve, rather than simple reporting-writing on the basis of what is little more than a spot check.

The Floss has been a constant fixture in primaries since FortNite hit the big time in 2016 (in fact I’m surprised that it’s still about).
I’m gobsmacked that the inspector hadn’t come across it previously, and I am baffled as to how they read anything ‘sexual’ into it.
I’d be a bit concerned about their mindset tbh

When I went under school inspection I was told that my lessons did not start with a 'bang' to get the children's attention. However, my O level, A level and GCSE results were excellent and at the other end, I was getting pupils in the lower sets through their CSEs with good grades. We were all happy together. Another more recent inspection I know of in a Christian faith school deemed it not up to speed on certain aspects because it stuck to traditional ways of faith. You can't win. Again, well run school from a traditional perspective but not all encompassing enough.

did not start with a bang ooer, unfortunate word, sorry.
Maybe you should have drunk some Red Bull before class.

Joseanne

^did not start with a bang^ ooer, unfortunate word, sorry.
Maybe you should have drunk some Red Bull before class.

I think "lessons which start with a bang" would be just as misconstrued by some teenagers as flossing was by the inspectors. The inspectors need to watch their language!

Luckygirl3

*I'm horrified for the woman and her family and her friends and her school and the inspectors but agree with you that the inspection team had no option.*

I hear what you say; but my concern is about the system itself.

We need inspectors who, if they find such problems, have the remit to sit down and work with the head and the governors to sort it out - in other words do something positive to improve the situation, rather than writing a damning public report and walking away as if it has nothing to do with them.

The whole OfSted system arose out of a desire for window-dressing to convince the public that something was ostensibly being done to raise educational standards. It was ill thought through and ignored the need for support to schools to improve, rather than simple reporting-writing on the basis of what is little more than a spot check.

👏👏👏

Glorianny

Joseanne

did not start with a bang ooer, unfortunate word, sorry.
Maybe you should have drunk some Red Bull before class.

I think "lessons which start with a bang" would be just as misconstrued by some teenagers as flossing was by the inspectors. The inspectors need to watch their language!

One of our lessons did start with a bang when an experiment went wrong in the lab! It was the teacher who was demonstrating too, not a disruptive pupil.
She was ok, thankfully.

I once almost met the then Head of Ofsted Chris Woodhead when he visited a school I did some support work in. I didn't. Certain measures were taken to ensure nothing went amiss during his visit and I was left in charge of them.

If you are on Twitter you might like to check out FloraSCooper she is making a stand against Ofsted

uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/headteacher-plans-refuse-ofsted-entry-145945084.html

Yes, something has to be done nanaK54. However, as you suggested, I took a quick look at FloraSCooper on Twitter and didnt really like what I saw ....people naming the OFSTED Lead Inspector, checking out his previous inspection reports to find fault, and his own unfortunate experience as a Head etc. It almost feels like a vendetta against an individual. And he has a child at a school in the same county. We don't know the full details, but the man was doing his job wasn't he? Blame the system, not the individual.

When it comes to safeguarding a school is either compliant, or not.

A petition has been started to look at the inspection
www.change.org/p/grant-an-inquiry-of-the-ofsted-inspection-at-caversham-primary-school

If that report is correct he had no option but to report those safeguarding issues. The employment checks alone are very serious.

Galaxy

If that report is correct he had no option but to report those safeguarding issues. The employment checks alone are very serious.

Agreed, however I really believe the system needs change.

I have said it before, and will say it again. If you take the senior management role in any organisation, then the buck stops with you, and considering how you would cope in a situation where you were found wanting, should be somethig you think through before you accept a senior management role.

From what was quoted on the previous page, the school was found wanting - and on serious grounds.

Something similar happened at my DGC's school some years ago. The headmistress bit the bullet, sorted the problem out and the school was given a top or near top grading the following year. Parents are not fools. DS& DDiL knew that their eldest childs school was a good school and sent their second child there during the year it was marked down. Schools have local reputations, and parents work on that.

I have every sympathy for those at the school and the family and friends of the deceased headmistress. But we need to separate the head teacher's tragic over reaction to this problem from the fact that OFSTED inspections have been round for a longtime, that good or bad, teachers will be used to them and headteachers, in particular will have survived many in different circumstances and coping with them is part of their job spec.

people naming the OFSTED Lead Inspector, checking out his previous inspection reports to find fault, and his own unfortunate experience as a Head etc. It almost feels like a vendetta against an individual. And he has a child at a school in the same county. We don't know the full details, but the man was doing his job wasn't he? Blame the system, not the individual.

A lead inspector’s name is on an Ofsted report so in the public domain anyway. His past credentials and experience are relevant. Why should people not look into them? Ofsted reports are ‘personally’ critical of Headteachers; it’s about time those in education (myself included in that) stand up to such public naming and shaming. Well done to the Head who is refusing entry to inspectors in her school.

Well done to the Head who is refusing entry to inspectors in her school.
That is NOT happening as she planned.. The Head in question is asking that people do NOT now show up at her school in protest. She has a duty to protect her children and her staff. I assume this means the inspection is going ahead.

Flora Cooper was very silly to put out that call to arms - a headteacher shouldn't be inviting trouble to her school gates.

I can understand people being upset but she was wrong to let her emotions cloud her judgement.

As I understand it Riverwalk it would have been against the law and she risked being sacked. She had a strong point, but went about it in the wrong way.
I'm guessing Ofsted will now inspect the school with the utmost professionalism and objectivity, as is their brief.

No one can judge anyone that takes their own life. We don’t know what led up to that final act. There is nothing that can’t be sorted but at that moment they are unable to see it. It can’t be blamed on a bad Ofsted report although it must be so stressful especially if it is on top of other issues.,. It’s not one persons fault. It’s so tragic for her, her family and friends.

Allsorts

No one can judge anyone that takes their own life. We don’t know what led up to that final act. There is nothing that can’t be sorted but at that moment they are unable to see it. It can’t be blamed on a bad Ofsted report although it must be so stressful especially if it is on top of other issues.,. It’s not one persons fault. It’s so tragic for her, her family and friends.

Anyone who has never been through an OfSted inspection can have no concept of how stressful this process is, and how flawed.

The style and conduct of Ofsted inspections does need to be investigated, and I feel this unfortunate Headmistress's suicide is being treated almost flippantly by some. Some inspection teams deliberately engender a climate of fear on arrival, while others are there to help and advise, but there is little consistency across the country.

Luckygirl13-

Anyone who has never been through an OfSted inspection can have no concept of how stressful this process is, and how flawed.
So true, even if you think you have done everything on the OFSTED list. We don’t know what was the last straw, but I’m still concerned about the role of the school advisor and governors. Whilst the buck stops with the head, the advisor should have been au fait with the fact that safeguarding didn’t seem to feature.

Re safeguarding:
The inspector(s) will have already looked at the school’s website to see what the safeguarding policy includes. If insufficient information was given there, that would be the first area of investigation. If the information is there, the questions will be to the head, staff, governors and, in some instances pupils to see what they know about safeguarding at the school. Was there no information and no knowledge then?
It pays to keep your website fully up to date, not just with the information parents would look for first. If you’re in the ‘window’ you can keep an eye on the traffic linked to your curriculum and policies pages among others. It goes up when the inspectors are gathering pre inspection information.

Anyone who has never been through an OfSted inspection can have no concept of how stressful this process is, and how flawed.

Agreed Luckygirl. I have endured 5 Ofsted inspections across my 30 year teaching career. Not one of them was undertaken with adequate professionalism, expertise or regard for staff well-being. And this is not ‘sour grapes’ because all outcomes were positive but, in my professional opinion, were equally as unreliable as those that are less positive. Indeed, one school received an ‘Outstanding’ classification when it absolutely was not outstanding - the Head ‘pulled the wool’ over the inspectors’ already-blinkered eyes! I’m not suggesting schools should avoid scrutiny and accountability, but the old HMI / Advisory system was much more effective than Ofsted. HMI was supportive, genuinely helping schools to improve for the good of the children. Ofsted is punitive - ‘slap a label on ‘em and that’ll sort ‘em out’. Anyone who knows anything about education, and indeed human nature, knows that simply does not work. The Ofsted system is flawed, not to mention being a huge waste of public money.