Ofsted clamps down on nationwide disparities in school performance

In an uncompromising start to the New Year, teams of Ofsted inspectors descended on Derby the very day the watchdog unveiled plans to tackle under-performance in schools using locality-based inspections.

The new checks – branded “dawn raids” by teaching unions – mark the start of a “concerted programme of action” to establish why children in some areas have a lower chance of attending a school rated good or better than their counterparts in other demographically similar places.

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw argued that the proportion of children attending good schools is more than 90 per cent in some council areas, but just 40 per cent in others.

“We will be seeking to determine whether councils are really fulfilling their statutory duties to promote high standards and fair access to educational opportunity,” he said. “Where we find evidence that the local authority is not demonstrating effective leadership, then we shall inspect it.”

Wilshaw’s words have prompted anger from educational professionals, who argue that councils in many areas no longer have sufficient power to intervene in schools as they become increasingly autonomous.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, warned that “blaming entire local authority areas is an almost textbook way to create a climate of combat from which no pupil will benefit.” He said: “We are concerned that Ofsted is straying from its mission to evaluate the quality of schools and joining with a controversial vision of replacing local authorities with chains of academies.”

Alongside the targeted school inspections in areas such as Derby, Ofsted is developing a separate framework, from May, to inspect school improvement services in local authorities where schools are underperforming.

Inspectors will consider the extent to which the local authority knows its schools and the effectiveness of its identification of, and intervention in, underperforming schools. The inspectorate is launching a consultation on those plans today (5 February), which will run until 19 March 2013.

Here, CYP Now asks the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and Ofsted to set out their positions on the plans.

THE LOCAL AUTHORITY VIEW
Debbie Jones, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS)

“In his recent speech, Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw reiterated his commitment to ending the “variations in school performance” around the country. ADCS members share his commitment to end the disparity.

“We were not aware in advance of his latest proposals for a new framework to inspect local authorities’ contribution to school improvement. It is not that we disagree with the principle of the inspections, nor to the production of a good practice survey: it makes sense that any judgment about a school’s performance takes into account the support it receives.

“Similarly, it is entirely legitimate for a local authority’s responsibility to drive up school standards to be examined as part of its overall responsibilities for improving outcomes for children and young people.

“Challenge and support to schools is an essential part of the way that local authorities contribute to school improvement and an essential part of promoting the best possible outcomes for local children.

“The role of local authorities has changed in recent years. Their role is not one of “command and control” but one that allows smart commissioning, services to be brokered and relationships to be built.

“There are variations in the way local authorities approach school improvement. Some have devolved money to local schools to allow the school to commission their own school improvement services; many have developed high-quality traded services. Indeed, in many local areas, schools buy back their local authority’s school improvement services, because they are of such high quality.

“Local authorities also broker hard and soft federations of schools, matching good schools with underperforming schools, using not only their statutory intervention powers but also their influence and moral leadership.

“A local authority is the only body that can oversee and maintain strategic coherence amid the collective decisions of increasingly autonomous institutions; it does so in the wider interests of the local community, for example in ensuring fair access to school places. Individual schools, indeed chains of schools, cannot and should not be responsible for area-wide provision. It is for this reason that the ADCS contends that local authorities are best placed to act as the middle tier between schools and central government.

“Ofsted’s new regional directors have an important role to play in helping all schools achieve to the level of the best. Regional directors must work closely with directors of children’s services and lead members to understand what strategies and interventions the local authority is using to improve the performance of its schools.

“Together these two statutory post-holders provide a clear and unambiguous line of professional and political accountability for the wellbeing of children and young people.