FACT: OFSTED IS NOT A SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TOOL!!

If it was we would have a brilliant education system here in England since we are the most checked up on and observed school system on the planet... and the latest OECD/PISA evidence shows that we are still struggling to build brilliant teaching and learning. Clearly, we need to improve teaching and learning in every classroom and develop a coaching culture where practice and hard work builds success but 'you don't fatten the pig by constantly weighing it'!! 

We need to remember that OFSTED observed about 150,000 brief lessons last year out of a total of 100,000,000 teacher days and I am not in any way complacent about teaching and learning, outcomes, standards and achievement. We do need to constantly ask ourselves how we can do better, but it's important to remember that research suggests that variation within schools is four times greater than variation between schools. So it doesn't matter very much which school you go to but it does matter which teachers' classroom you are in!

Over the years, and there are now many of them, I have worked with some great schools and the vast majority of teachers I know have high expectations and want the very best for their students. They don't need to be told that someone else can do it better. unless the plan or strategy is that we are going to replace all our teachers with superteachers from the Planet Zog!! As far as I am aware we don't have 650,000 superteachers waiting to be called in!! We need to focus on the way every teacher teaches and every child and young person learns and we clearly need an approach based on what works! The London Challenge, Education Leeds, and the City of York’s Schools Learning Together all worked in their way... they were all highly supportive and encouraging approaches in which headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants came to feel more valued, more confident and as a result more effective. The approaches were based on research, evidence and data!!!

Of course, we need to continue to improve schools but we are currently over-managed and under-led. The answers aren't rocket science and we simply need to identify, develop and support:

• Strong, successful and passionate learning leadership;
• Personalised approaches that recognise that schools are unique and special places and need different things at different times; 
• Outstanding practice and school to school and teacher to teacher sharing of successes and best practice.
• What happens in effective classrooms since it doesn't matter much which school you attend but it does matter which classroom you are in!
• Intelligent accountability based on trust, support and encouragement;
• Teachers who need to be engaged, motivated and inspired and passionate about teaching and learning.