Minister expects priority to be children’s life chances as Ofsted plans unveiled

Bridget Phillipson has said she expects the “first priority” of unions to beryllium “children and their beingness chances”, aft her caller proposals for Ofsted inspections were criticised for being worse than the strategy they would replace.

The Education Secretary said she volition “always question to prosecute successful dialogue” with unions, but she “won’t fto thing get successful the way” of her work to families and children.

At a code successful cardinal London connected Monday, Ms Phillipson rejected disapproval of her plans to revamp inspections with a caller “report card” benignant scale.

Asked by reporters what her connection to unions would beryllium fixed they person criticised the plans and unhappiness implicit wage proposals, the Cabinet curate said: “My archetypal precedence is children and their beingness chances, and that’s what I’d expect their archetypal precedence to beryllium arsenic well.

“Of people I’ll ever question to prosecute successful dialog and person a constructive narration wherever that’s possible, but my archetypal work arsenic Secretary of State is to children and families and to their beingness chances and I won’t fto thing get successful the mode of that.”

Pushed further connected whether she was listening to teachers and their concerns, she added: “I deliberation there’s been a batch of treatment astir however I arsenic Secretary of State americium seemingly successful hock to the commercialized unions. I deliberation we’ve seen contiguous from the absorption to what we’re mounting retired that that’s precise acold from the truth.

“I volition ever question a constructive narration with commercialized unions representing our teachers and workforce, they’ve got an important relation to play.

“But my archetypal precedence volition ever beryllium children and their beingness chances. That has to beryllium my absorption and that’s my archetypal responsibility.”

Under the plans unveiled connected Monday, schools successful England could beryllium graded crossed a assortment of antithetic areas – including attendance and inclusion – utilizing a colour-coded five-point scale.

Schools would person ratings – from the red-coloured “causing concern” to orange-coloured “attention needed”, done the greenish shades of “secure”, “strong” and “exemplary” – for each country of signifier nether proposals for Ofsted’s caller study paper system.

The reforms travel aft disapproval of the inspection strategy pursuing the decease of headteacher Ruth Perry.

Mrs Perry took her ain beingness aft an Ofsted study downgraded her Caversham Primary School successful Reading from the highest to the lowest wide effectiveness standing implicit safeguarding concerns.

Pepe Di’Iasio, wide caput of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Ofsted and the Government look to person learned thing from the decease of headteacher Ruth Perry and person alternatively devised an accountability strategy which volition taxable a beleaguered assemblage to yet much misery.

“Rather than securing precocious and rising standards – thing we each privation to spot – this is simply a sure-fire mode of doing the nonstop opposite. People volition ballot with their feet by leaving teaching which volition worsen an already terrible recruitment and retention crisis. We volition extremity up without teachers to thatch children and leaders to pb schools.

“Astonishingly, Ofsted’s projected schoolhouse study cards look to beryllium adjacent worse than the single-word judgments they replace.”

Ms Phillipson defended the study cards and the “rich, granular insight” they tin supply arsenic she launched the 12-week consultation connected the plans.

“I deliberation parents are much than capable to recognize and to instrumentality connected committee greater accusation astir what’s happening wrong their children’s school,” she said.

“Both successful presumption of strengths and areas of weakness and wherever determination is further enactment required connected improvement.

“So I conscionable fundamentally cull this thought that someway providing much accusation shining a airy connected areas wherever determination is simply a request for improvement, but besides wherever determination is excellence, is someway not thing that parents privation erstwhile each the grounds is wide that they do.”

Under the aged system, Ofsted awarded 1 of 4 single-phrase inspection judgments: outstanding, good, requires betterment and inadequate.

In her code astatine the Centre for Social Justice successful Westminster, the Education Secretary said that “good” arsenic a judgement has go “too vague” to service its purpose, and besides described much than 600 schools arsenic “stuck receiving consecutive mediocre Ofsted judgments”.

The Government has said that it volition “intervene swiftly” with schools with the astir superior issues, and the Department for Education (DfE) is consulting connected caller arrangements for involution successful authorities schools – including its plans for determination betterment for standards and excellence (Rise) teams.

Schools that are allocated Rise experts volition spot up to £100,000 made disposable for specializer support.

The proposals volition see however the DfE volition place schools for mandatory targeted Rise interventions and the circumstances “where we would alteration the organisation that governs a school”, the Education Secretary said successful a written connection to travel her announcement.

I americium disquieted that this connection is simply a rehash of the discredited and unsafe strategy it is meant to replace

Professor Julia Waters, sister of Ruth Perry

In her address, she acceptable retired that “the worst performing schools, whether section authorization maintained oregon academies” could beryllium moved to a “strong trust”.

“That means caller enactment brought successful to boost the beingness chances of pupils,” she said.

In her speech with journalists aft the speech, Ms Phillipson said that she “won’t flinch” successful turning “failing schools” into academies.

“I won’t hesitate from intervening successful schools that are failing. And we volition proceed to academise schools that are failing. That presumption volition proceed and it’s close that it does,” she said.

“When a schoolhouse is not delivering for children, that needs enactment change, it needs alteration overall.

“But what we’ve seen alongside that is tons of schools autumn abbreviated of requiring structural alteration but are conscionable not delivering the acquisition that our children merit truthful there’ll beryllium much of a absorption and greater enactment to crook astir those schools too.”

“I won’t flinch from converting failing schools into academies,” she added.

Ms Perry’s sister, Professor Julia Waters, said that portion the caller exemplary has immoderate improvements, it “retains galore of the unsafe features of the erstwhile system, portion introducing a bid of changes with imaginable caller risks to the wellbeing of teachers and headteachers”.

Prof Waters said: “I americium disquieted that this connection is simply a rehash of the discredited and unsafe strategy it is meant to replace.”