Ofsted has done a lot of good. For all its shortcomings, its focus on special educational needs and disabilities, for example, has been one of the most effective levers to get leaders to focus on change and improvement.
However, we have collectively colluded with several aspects of Ofsted which diminish the positive impact of regulation. We have created the monster of the single overarching judgment by conferring gravitas upon it – I defy anyone to argue that their first question on hearing of the publication of an Ofsted report isn’t “what's the judgment?”.
We have supported the chaos and persecution which follows negative inspections across the children's system. We forget in our response that most people working in children's services do so because of a burning moral purpose and ambition to enable children to have brilliant childhoods and to be set up for a fantastic life. By chickening out of our collective role in supporting each other, and recognising that challenge is part of effective support, we let Ofsted do our dirty work for us.
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