Head teacher kills herself over OFSTED

Ofsted inspections are a sort of game. Some headteachers stick strictly to the rules, worry about everything and try their best. Some headteachers look for loop holes, manipulate children and staff, cover up weaknesses and paper over the cracks.
In many cases all the judgement of the school shows is how good the head is at pulling the wool over the inspectors' eyes.

GagaJo

Mollygo

What a shame there isn’t OFSTED for all MPs and for the government in power.

I would posit 90% of them would be sacked after the inspection if there were.

The inspectors wouldn't go through the door, they'd fail it on safeguarding without even entering the place

Mollygo

What a shame there isn’t OFSTED for all MPs and for the government in power.

I would posit 90% of them would be sacked after the inspection if there were.

Joseanne

No Oreo I am not one of those teachers, even ex Head, on here who is complaining how stressful inspections are. I see them as a necessary evil part of the job. I agree, many teachers are hostile to the process, but why let it rule one's life?

It's very hard not to, when your entire professional reputation rests on a 20 minute observation of any part of a lesson. If students are not observed to have made progress in that 20 minutes, the lesson is not a success.

In theory, no one knows the results of a teachers lesson observation. In actuality, everyone knows. I don't know how, but it gets out.

It's utter b*llshit. It destroys teachers reputations and also their mental health. The pressure from management is huge around Ofsted.

I will say it again.

Inspection is needed, but it needs to be constructive rather than destructive. In the old system inspection carried in its wake the back-up needed to sort out any problems.

Oreo

I can see from your comments Joseanne that you are indeed not one of those teachers, so I shouldn’t have said all just most. You were pragmatic about the inspections which is the right approach really.

Thanks Oreo. I worked my socks off, I cared desperately, but it was what it was and things move on.

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.

As an example, either this teacher on here was very unlucky or maybe they misread things. My DH inspects around 30 schools a year, they are variable in their management and outcomes, but every team I know enters each setting with professionalism, expertise and regard for staff well-being.

I can see from your comments Joseanne that you are indeed not one of those teachers, so I shouldn’t have said all just most. You were pragmatic about the inspections which is the right approach really.

The education and safeguarding of the nations children are so important.
As are the inspections of care homes and any other places that house vulnerable people. Even if it’s stressful for those tho run them and work there.

No Oreo I am not one of those teachers, even ex Head, on here who is complaining how stressful inspections are. I see them as a necessary evil part of the job. I agree, many teachers are hostile to the process, but why let it rule one's life?

What a shame there isn’t OFSTED for all MPs and for the government in power.

M0nica

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.

These are really such good comments that I’m re quoting them.
All the teachers and ex teachers on here are empathising about OFSTED and how stressful it was.Am sure it was but for good reasons and sometimes stressful situations are part of life.

Ofsted also inspect social work with children and families in local authorities and the family courts. Staff must be accountable but I’m not convinced Ofsted adds much more than stress. I had a piece of work marked from outstanding to good because the file had 7 not 8 diversity forms for each of the children. I knew the form had been completed, I can still recall the 8 fathers, ethnicity, race, religion etc etc. the form must has been mislaid between me and admin, at least that’s the only ex-lanation I have. My manager told me I was the only person she’d shared this kind of outcome with who hadn’t wept.

LizzieDrip

^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.

I agree whole-heartedly LizzieDrip
5 OFSTEDs here as head of a core dept, each time with a retired head who hadn't been responsible for an exam class in literally decades.
One school I worked in, management were deemed 'good' - they were appalling.
Mid-90s, in a different school, the team would pick out 2 teachers we should all aspire to be like. It was May. That teacher's books hadn't been marked all year, until they'd been taken home at Easter, 'flicked & ticked'!
OFSTED doesn't improve pupils' education, but it does make it look to the public like govts of both colours are trying to.

Oops, wrong thread, I will ask for it to be deleted.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mollygo speaks as someone who knows.
Me too, as a state school teacher, an ex independent school Head, and also knowing someone as an Inspector, (in a school today). Policies are the first thing inspectors download 3 weeks prior to the event, the increased traffic on the school's website is an indication of this and that should give the Head time to check every reference and every DBS in the files. Headteachers don't really need "support" to do this boring onerous, vital task, but governors can be instrumental. Maybe it could be done by an office centrally, though the Headteacher should still be responsible for any safeguarding issues.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.