Why we welcome the change in ‘one word’ school ranking from OFSTED
Single-word Ofsted grades for schools are being withdrawn with immediate effect. This change follows the campaign by the family of headteacher Ruth Perry who tragically took her life following the OFSTED report into her previously outstanding school.
The government said the change was needed to reduce the high stakes for schools and give parents a better picture. The one-word categorisation will be replaced by report cards aimed at improving standards and helping parents to better understand schools’ strengths and weaknesses.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson stated that reform was “overwhelmingly clear” in order to promote high standards. The change “delivers on the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity”, the DfE added.
Chiltern Relocation welcomes the change
Chiltern Relocation welcomes this change as we strongly believe that grading a school by a summary one word is not a true reflection of the schools’ capabilities.
Having been in the industry for 19 years, we know that parents want the best schooling option for their children and that school choice is one of the – if not the – most important element to a successful relocation. Clients, understandably, wish to look at Outstanding schools and the catchment areas surrounding these schools.
Whilst we have always facilitated the search for an Outstanding school place, we have always promoted other schools that we know are excellent – even if they do not wear the Outstanding ‘badge’.
Why the system had its flaws
From many years observing the local school providers we know that these rankings had its flaws. For example:
- An Outstanding grading would need closer inspection as often the report was compiled many years previously and that school is no longer performing at the same level
- An excellent school may have a large SEN (Special Educational Needs) department that caters for wide range of abilities but this means that results wise this school could never attain an Outstanding rating
- We know that a school can be ‘on the up’ with fabulous future plans and performing at a high level but this is not reflected in an outdated OFSTED report
Looking at the bigger picture
Chiltern Relocation has also observed that a one-word rating can be very reductive for a relocation search if clients only wish to consider Outstanding schools. This has meant that clients could miss out on other excellent – or preferable – locations due to this one-word categorisation.
We hope that these changes will encourage parents to look at all areas of the schools in the newly formatted reports. For inspections this academic year, parents will see the four Ofsted grades – outstanding, good, requires improvement, and inadequate – given across the existing sub-categories: quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management.
We also hope that this news will help to drive standards across schools as students aren’t simply shoe-horned into Outstanding schools and instead attend a wider range of schools.
Changes to grading of independent schools
It is understood the removal of single-headline grades for other settings inspected by OFSTED – independent schools, early years settings, colleges, children’s social care providers and initial teacher training – will follow.
If you would like more information about schooling, school searches and home search services then please do get in touch. Call 01494 672086, email enquiries@chilternrelocation.com or visit our site for more information www.chilternrelocation.com
