Outstanding challenge for Ofsted
Ravi Chandiramani
Monday, February 1, 2010
Ofsted-bashing has been on the rise for several months. Cries of exasperation over the way the children's services inspectorate goes about its business have come in fits and starts from all quarters.
This week, our short, sharp snapshot of the opinions of directors of children's services (DCSs) captures the real extent of the ongoing disquiet about Ofsted's inspectors and its leadership. There is an important caveat: 25 DCSs responded, so it is a sample, not a comprehensive analysis. But given that 22 out of 25 responded "no" to the question over whether inspectors are up to the job, Ofsted would be wise to take the findings seriously.
Many service chiefs have been riled by Ofsted's ratings of their services. The inspectorate continues to be criticised for an apparent obsession with records and process at the expense of observing frontline practice, particularly in children's social care, which attracts the most headlines when things go wrong.
A more lenient inspections system however is in nobody's interest. Where services are genuinely unfit for purpose, they must be outed as inadequate. But there are too many instances where services have been felt to be unfairly branded inadequate. There, the subsequent damage to staff morale, recruitment and retention does little to improve services.
Under its director of social care John Goldup, Ofsted has set about recruiting more social care inspectors with both managerial and frontline experience. Time will tell whether they boost respect for the organisation among those whose services they inspect.
Our survey finds DCSs evenly split over whether Ofsted should continue to inspect social care. But a return to different inspections for care and education would risk undermining the concept of a whole system heralded by the Every Child Matters reforms.
Two things would help stop the current rot. First, government should give Ofsted responsibility to provide children's services with support to improve, which would accompany the peer support programme under way. As we revealed last month, the Tories back this approach, as does much of the sector. Moreover, government field forces are the subject of cuts, leaving a vacuum in this area. Second, Ofsted must put more effort into publicising examples of practice rated "outstanding" across a range of services, as it does now for schools. Don't just highlight failure, highlight success. We're all more likely to learn from it.