At this year’s Labour Party Conference, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has partnered with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to hold a public panel event on ‘How should Labour implement its Ofsted reforms?’
Longstanding calls to reform Ofsted have intensified and there are increasing concerns over the impact of the accountability system in its current form on teacher workload, staff and pupil wellbeing, curriculum breadth and that single phrase judgements do not support schools to improve standards. Recent EPI research finds that the longer a school has a negative rating, the harder the process of school improvement becomes.
In response, Labour has set out a series of proposed reforms including the removal of graded judgements; the institution of a “report card” for schools following inspection; and the separation of safeguarding from performance evaluations, through an annual safeguarding audit of every school and college.
Given the strong appetite for reform, it is critical to investigate how best to implement the proposals to ensure they are effective, tackle the root of the issues above and facilitate a system that is reliable and transparent. Building on ASCL’s discussion paper on the future of inspection, this panel will bring together policy makers, school leaders, teaching unions and other education stakeholders to discuss how proposed reforms should be implemented. In particular, panellists will consider what metrics a report card would and should be based on; how to ensure schools have the support they need to make improvements following inspection and what a safeguarding audit body might look like.
We are delighted to welcome Geoff Barton, ASCL; Jason Elsom, Parentkind; Catherine McKinnell, Shadow Schools Minister; Nabeela Mowlana, Young Labour and Paul Whiteman, NAHT. Natalie Perera, EPI’s Chief Executive will chair the session.
** Note: This event will take place in the conference secure zone. To access the secure zone you will need to obtain a pass directly from the Labour Party.**
