Head teacher kills herself over OFSTED

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.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Glorianny

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

Imagine if they found teachers asleep on the job, the way MPs are filmed in Parliament. Or lying down (Rees Mogg) Or drunk, e.g. Michael Gove twitter.com/BrexitBin/status/1467543401851666435?lang=en-GB

Yesterday's phone-in on Radio 5 Live with Nicky Campbell is well worth listening to.
The second hour is about Ofsted inspections. Some really interesting insights:

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001k796?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

I think one of the issues we had at the very large establishment I worked at previously is that everything became about Ofsted - it wasn’t just a few days. Everything you did was for Ofsted, all training was focussed on Ofsted. You were working for Ofsted not for the young people who really should have been the focus. Ridiculously frustrating. In my current role, the school have just had to spend a fortune on something extra curricular as the staff member who normally does is is temporarily unable to. The Bursar was saying that if they didn’t, Ofsted would pull them up on it. Totally unnecessary.

M0nica posted:
‘While having every sympathy for those involved, the question that really needs asking is why this lady was appointed to a job for which she was clearly unsuited and why more was not done to quietly ease her out before this sad denouement. She was in post for 13 years.’

I see no foundation for her assumptions. If the head was ‘clearly unsuited’ it seems odd that the school was doing well with achieving pupils and contented parents. Or does M0nica have some knowledge of the school which she has not shared?

Elrel

M0nica posted:
‘While having every sympathy for those involved, the question that really needs asking is why this lady was appointed to a job for which she was clearly unsuited and why more was not done to quietly ease her out before this sad denouement. She was in post for 13 years.’

I see no foundation for her assumptions. If the head was ‘clearly unsuited’ it seems odd that the school was doing well with achieving pupils and contented parents. Or does M0nica have some knowledge of the school which she has not shared?

I don't think it was reported that she was in post for 13 years. It was the first inspection after she was appointed Head Teacher.

All categories at the school were marked Good except for one which meant the whole school was rated Inadequate.

There seems to be something very wrong with a system which can give an overall rating of Inadequate for one failing where the Head and Governors may have needed some guidance on improvements that needed to be made and a chance to put things right before a reassessment.

If the assessment was wrong because of misunderstandings by the Ofsted Inspector there seems to have been no debate or discussion allowed either.

The trouble is, the Head might have been truly amazing in some areas but was obviously sorely lacking in others, and this is where support should be made available. The poor lady in question fell down on one of the most important requirements - safeguarding, and I don't understand why she hadn't checked and rechecked every document, knowing this is the first thing inspectors look at on morning one. It isn't rocket science.
I am not being flippant; the school Head needs to juggle all the balls at once and multi task, playing a variety of rôles depending on the situation. They need someone to work alongside them in the management of the school, someone who can support and intervene where necessary. It is impossible for a Head to have so many responsibilities I agree, but to be honest checking the paperwork is the simplest of all the tasks and there is no excuse for being inefficient.

To put things into perspective, 88%of schools are rated good or outstanding. So to say that the OFSTED inspectors are doing a terrible job is simply untrue.
This particular school hadn’t been inspected for 13 years, because at the last check it was rated outstanding.A lot can happen in that time, and in some areas it had obviously had problems.

Oreo

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.

Oreo the point is that it isn't a good system. It may to an outsider give the impression of providing information about how successful a school is but in actual fact it does no such thing. The grading it gives is dependent on so many factors which really don't give a proper idea of how the school is doing. The people working in schools are not just complaining about stress but about the way the process works and the anomalies it involves.
Whistle blowers in other professions are encouraged to speak out, but when teachers do it they are ignored and told they need to put up with things.