Flick Drummond welcomes Ofsted reform recommendations

A review of Ofsted’s single-word judgements such as ‘outstanding or ‘inadequate’ is among a series of proposals the cross-party committee, on which Ms Drummond sits, has issued to the watchdog and the Government in a new report.

It follows the death of head teacher Ruth Perry, who took her life after Ofsted rated her school inadequate.

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Other recommendations include calls for the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted to review the support mechanisms available to school leaders during and following an inspection, and ensure these are as strong as possible.

The recommendations also call for Ofsted to review the policy around ‘inadequate’ judgement for safeguarding issues and only give them when a school is fundamentally failing to keep children safe.

Flick Drummond MP (left) with Julie Kelly (Image: Contributed)

In cases where safeguarding problems can easily be resolved, it was recommended in the report that DfE should not issue an academy order until after the school has been reinspected.

It is also recommended Ofsted looks at the impact on primary schools, special schools and small schools and on reviewing notice periods, particularly for smaller schools.

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Ms Drummond, who was a lay Ofsted inspector, said: “This is an important report that looks at how Ofsted can better keep the high standards we all want to see in our schools but do it in a way that helps and supports them rather than putting them under the stress of last-minute inspections and one-word judgements.

“Small schools in Meon Valley have brought up with me the problem of inspections without much notice being very difficult especially if there was a school trip at the same time. This was something I fed into the report.

“Parents want to know the school their children attend is safe and doing a good job educating them. These recommendations do not dilute that core function of Ofsted but they do recognise there needs to be a change in focus from inspectors and more support for school heads and teachers.”