The realities of a Kent headship

It's been a while since Education Monkey put down his banana to pick up a pen and a lot has happened. I keep threatening to get back to regular blogging but life just seems to take over.

I often comment on the national picture - heaven knows, there's enough to comment on! But this time I want to reflect on some local issues. Firstly, let me talk about my friend Nigel. One of the most inspirational headteacher colleagues that I have been privileged to work with, Nigel took over a tough Thanet school at a crucial time in its history and, because he is a clear thinker with high expectations and high ideals, his school rapidly became one of the most improved schools in Kent. Of course, at the mention of Kent, the discerning may already sense alarm bells.

In my view, Nigel's school was dealt a pretty rough hand  by Ofsted because, rather than the 'good' that it surely was, it was judged to 'require improvement'. There were probably several reasons for that and, as a some-time player for the Dark Side, I know how marginal these calls are. It could probably have gone either way but this was a harsh shout. When the inspection team leave a school it leaves behind a mixture of feelings, usually depending on the judgement. I have known RI schools to be appreciative of the breathing space they have been given and often the new clarity they have about priorities. But, when the judgement is iffy, it leaves people feeling a sense of grief, almost like a bereavement. And this was how I though Nigel reacted; he knew he was doing a good job; ask any pupil at his school and they will tell you just how much their lives have been enriched by the experience. Yet here was Ofsted, telling him that it was all illusory.

It does not help that, in Kent, the LA make little distinction between schools that are in a category and those that simply require improvement. They don't seem to have read that line that says 'a school that requires improvement is not a school causing concern'. So, with all the pressure that this generates, Nigel decided that he would throw in the towel. Outside school he is nationally respected for his work around inclusion and there were people happy to offer him work to benefit from his considerable expertise. But the pupils, staff and community of his school are the big losers. He and I chatted over tea about making the break from headship to consultancy and it was great to see how positively Nigel embraced the new possibilities. And that's right  - if you cut it in consultancy, you move onto a wider stage and can have a wider influence.

But, of course, Kent will always have the final kick in the teeth. Just before half-term I happened to be at Nigel's school leading a Flight workshop with his and another school. I chanced to say to a colleague, 'so, when does Nigel leave?' expecting a July date rather than 'tomorrow'. Tomorrow??

It seems that Nigel, being well-respected and well-connected, was invited to take part in an education programme on Radio 5 Live. He didn't talk about his school, nor Kent - just headship. After the event one of his governors, perhaps with an over-inflated sense of position, rang the Chair and ranted, 'how dare Nigel do this without consulting us?' The Chair could have dismissed it, she could have dropped in to talk it through with Nigel, but instead she stupidly decided to ring the LA.  To those who know this authority, it will come as no surprise that the LA response was 'sack him!'. It appeared governors were given three choices: sack Nigel, refuse to do so and be replaced by an IEB who would do so, or negotiate a compromise agreement with immediate resignation.

This beggars belief, doesn't it? It can't be legal. But here is a man who has always spoken his mind and now the LA has an opportunity to kick him when he's down. Nigel was just not in the right place to fight and so, with a compromise agreement, he left his grieving school at half-term.  And I know that already, relieved of the burden of leading a Kent school, he feels lighter and is looking forward to the next stage in his career. I wish him every success. He leaves behind a legacy of decency, a spirit of aspiration and a sense of pride in achievement. Headteachers like Nigel are the kinds of people who Kent needs but knows not how to value. A shame on you.

The odd world of the politics of education and the future of inspection

You may be aware of the tensions between Sir Michael Wilshaw and the right wing of the Conservative Party. Wilshaw is squaring up for a fight by trying to align the inspection of independent schools with Ofsted while the Right are putting pressure on the Secretary of State to remove Ofsted's right to inspect Free Schools and Academies.  This is what recently caused Wilshaw to hold a press conference at which he said he was 'spitting blood'. However, round one to the Chief Inspector for, from April, Section 162 inspection (of 'non-association' independent schools) will no longer include the 'Adequate' judgement as it will be replaced by 'Requires Improvement' - quite a change if you're paying £4K a term for your child's education.

However, Round 2 is currently going the way of the Right as the link below will illustrate. This throws the whole future of inspection into doubt. Policy Exchange is a fairly small group of Neo-Conservatives with enormous power and influence. Their current view is that Ofsted should not observe lessons any more because inspectors' views are unreliable (as they say, you may as well toss a coin). Now,  whilst it may be true that one inspector's RI is another inspector's Inadequate, it would be unusual to be more than a grade different. However, as Mike Cladingbowl has recently pointed out, "Ofsted does not grade lessons and does not grade teachers", so we're half way there anyway. But, if self-evaluation is important, then lesson observations are a legitimate way to check out leadership judgements.

Policy Exchange also want to ditch experienced inspectors in favour of serving teachers. While this idea has merit, many AIs are already practitioners. In my view it is the serving practitioners that tend to be a bit variable on an inspection because they don't inspect that often. On the other hand, inspectors who have held senior and successful positions and now work for Ofsted, tend to get a much quicker handle on things.   Civitas would like the inspection of Free Schools and Academies to mirror the system used by The Independent Schools Inspectorate and so remove the risk of a dodgy Ofsted judgement.

What we are seeing here is two right wing think tanks, Civitas and Policy Exchange, engaged in a pincer movement to outmanoeuvre the Chief Inspector. There are a limited number of these movers and shakers and, because of the very close links between the two bodies, there are probably even fewer than you might think. And there are almost certainly some vested interests involved. Let's say, for example, that a key member of Policy Exchange was planning to set up a Free School, or that people close to Civitas already ran one that could be vulnerable at its first Ofsted inspection. In these cases the idea of ditching Ofsted in favour of a softer approach makes every sense. Of course, this is pure conjecture...!

Let's not forget that the founder of Policy Exchange was one Michael Gove so it's quite easy to predict the result of this boxing match.

Sir Michael - who, by some strange quirk of fortune, seems now to be the Teacher's Friend, is 68 in August so I suspect that he may not be in post much longer. If I was the Secretary of State, I think I would want to replace the Chief Inspector sooner rather than later so that my man (or woman) was in place before the election.  I may be wrong....

Anyway, do have a look at the TES 'breaking news' in the link below.

Here's to the future of inspection!


Education Monkey

Scrap 'unreliable' lesson observations from Ofsted inspections, says Policy Exchange - Education - TES News
news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/03/14/scrap-lesson-observations-from-ofsted-inspections-report-says.asp