Teach-Primary-Issue-19.2

www.teachwire.ne t | 23 W hen Ofsted introduced changes to its inspection framework in 2019, we all panicked a bit, and a flurry of reactionary measures resulted in all sorts of new initiatives in schools. To survive the newest switch (don’t get me started), we may need to be more structured. You may well read the rest of this letter and think it’s all common sense, but bear with me. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, it can be tricky to pin down exactly what the best next step is – especially when faced with yet another pivot that appears to just make things harder. Here’s an honest summary of what your SLT may already be thinking, but aren’t quite sure how to express... The new framework is just confusing enough to make it tempting to hand out assignments to individual leaders, who you can then hold to account. But furthering a high-stakes blame culture makes an already difficult job nearly impossible. This is particularly true for smaller schools, where one person will have to carry the burden of leading on multiple aspects of the framework. Supposedly, the changes are meant to move us away from single-word judgements, but it would be so easy to end up getting dragged into a system where we instead have single-leader judgements. The conclusions the powers-that-be have drawn from their ‘big think’ are meant to throw out the single-word gradings that damn or elevate schools in the eyes of colleagues, parents, and the wider community. But I think there’s a real danger of the new system just encouraging SLTs to label individual staff within a school with these damning or elevating terms, instead. Whilst a school will no longer ‘require improvement’, a vice principal (for example) who is, under the new guidance, the one responsible for attendance, will have their area of leadership labelled as ‘needing attention’. So, rather than a whole team being responsible for a reductive judgement, it will fall to a single person. This has the potential to impact how this leader is perceived in school – and in the worst cases, by MAT teams and heads. In reality, no area of school leadership is ever a one-man band; it’s far too complex for that. For the sake of your staff, leave the paperwork alone. Yes, there are new thresholds for success and new key terminology that might be useful to drop into inspections, etc. But consider what actually w .teachwire.net | 17 A letter to... Although Ofsted’s new framework is encouraging us to play the blame game, we should fight back and not get sucked into its twisted world, says Claire Harley ... Each issueweaskacontributor to penanote theywould love to send School and MAT leaders Claire Harley is a senior leader and history teacher in the East Midlands. researchtoclassroom.com VO I C E S needs changing before you delve in, so you can protect yourself and your team. Your SLT need to be walking in corridors, supporting teachers, and being present for pupils; educators need the space and capacity to actually educate. I implore you to take your time and only do what is absolutely necessary in terms of change. Staff want to be involved in the process, and a collaborative approach is going to be much more helpful in wading through the sticking points (of which there are always many) in the new framework. At the beginning of the year, you sat down with your senior leaders, shared your vision, and set out a course for the 12 months ahead, and beyond. Don’t let Ofsted take all that hard work away from you. Rather than starting again to try and better align with the new framework, we should all consider the extent to which our intentions from that initial planning are still the best bet for colleagues, pupils, and the school community. The excessive complexity of this new framework runs the risk of creating a longer tick sheet of school priorities. Our hopes for the ‘big listen’ were that we’d have a new framework to support our wellbeing, and that of our colleagues (and pupils!). Alas, it was not to be. As usual, the responsibility of advocating for the wellbeing of school staff again falls to you, our leaders, and although this is mightily unfair, we can all pitch in to support one another. Don’t lose heart – we can do this. From Claire “A high-stakes blame culture makes an already difficult job almost impossible”