Ofsted is placing teachers in “imminent serious danger” and its proposed report cards will not address the “crisis in trust and reliability”, a union has said.
The recent appointment of former Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman to the House of Lords was deemed an “insult” to teachers, delegates at the annual conference of the National Education Union (NEU) heard.
A motion, which was passed at the conference in Harrogate on Wednesday, called on the union’s executive to renew its campaign to “expose the harm, damage and cover up” from the watchdog, and to instead call for an “effective and fair” school improvement system with no “ranking and shaming”.
It added that members who “take action to protect themselves to keep safe where they have evidence that Ofsted is placing them in serious and imminent danger of harm or death” should be supported.
The Government announced, last year, that headline Ofsted grades for overall effectiveness for schools in England would be scrapped.
Previously, Ofsted awarded one of four single-phrase inspection judgments: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
The move came after Ofsted faced criticism following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Mrs Perry took her own life in January 2023 after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from the highest to the lowest overall effectiveness rating over safeguarding concerns.
During the debate, delegate Jennifer Cooper, an executive member of the NEU, said: “We hoped that Ruth Perry’s death would result in change.
“But instead, the new Nando-style spice chart with its patronising ratings just reinforces to us that we and our children are judged as data, numbers and colours on an AI chart.
“Let’s be clear, Ofsted hasn’t listened, the Government hasn’t listened.”
In February, Ofsted launched a consultation on its plans to introduce a report card system for grading schools in England.
Schools could be graded across eight to 10 areas of a provision – including attendance, inclusion and behaviour – using a colour-coded five-point scale.
They would receive ratings, from the red-coloured “causing concern” to orange-coloured “attention needed”, through the green shades of “secure”, “strong” and “exemplary” – for each area of practice.
Last week, it was confirmed that Amanda Spielman, who was chief inspector of Ofsted when the inspectorate faced scrutiny following the death of Mrs Perry, has been awarded a peerage after being nominated by the Tories.
During the debate on Ofsted on Wednesday, delegate Paul Arnold, from Reading, where Mrs Perry had worked, said Ms Spielman’s admission to the House of Lords was “an insult to all of us”.
Delegate Alice Butterton, from Brent in north London, gave an emotional speech at the conference about her negative experience of an Ofsted inspection and the subsequent “inadequate” rating.
She said it gave her a “small insight into what Ruth Perry must have felt”.
Ms Butterton, who received a standing ovation from delegates after she broke down in tears, added that the school had “turned into an unsmiling and fearing institution” as a result of the inspection.
She said: “Ofsted is random, unaccountable and dangerous.”
A survey of more than 12,000 NEU teacher members in English state schools, released at the union’s annual conference, suggests that the majority (57%) feel inspection negatively affects their mental health.
Professor Julia Waters, Mrs Perry’s sister, said: “Ofsted continues to ignore the coroner’s findings regarding Ruth’s death and overlooks multiple reports recommending change.
“Their inspection system still prioritises transparency and ease of message to parents over teacher welfare, putting educators in serious danger.”
She added: “Ofsted has proven incapable of meaningful reform. Their proposed system must be rejected.”
But, last month, a YouGov survey suggested that more than two in three (67%) parents in England prefer Ofsted’s proposed report cards for schools over current inspection reports.
The majority of parents who were surveyed said the report cards were easy to understand (86%) and they found the use of colour coding to grade schools helpful (84%), according to the poll commissioned by the watchdog.
The findings came after education unions criticised Ofsted’s proposed inspection reforms as being “worse” than the system they would replace.
Addressing the NEU conference on Wednesday, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “The new inspection system proposed by Ofsted is a car crash waiting to happen.”
He added: “It is a system which is doomed to quickly fall into disrepair and disrepute.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: “The reality is that Ofsted’s culture of fear leads to unsustainable workload, damages mental health and drives many out of the classroom.
“It is a broken model. We need to see radical reform – but reform must be right and cannot be rushed through for the sake of it.”
He added: “We call on Ofsted and the Education Secretary to pause and listen closely to the profession before it is too late.
“The aim for all of us must be a new system that is supportive, effective and fair.”
