@Yorkshire_Steve @FrankWNorris Quite - so it could be argued that a judgement is being made on quality of teaching & curriculum 3-5 years ago! A lot can change in that time but it can take time for impact to show in national data
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Julie Price Grimshaw
9.8K posts
Julie Price Grimshaw
@Julespg
Teacher, school development adviser, former HMI, Gàidhlig learner, church organist. Fond of dogs, cats and horses. Lifelong MCFC fan. https://t.co/B00g338AU2
Wester Ross, Scotland Katılım Haziran 2009
2.7K Takip Edilen3K Takipçiler
@FrankWNorris And the most recent progress measures will have been from 2 years ago!
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Just looking ahead to the early autumn when inspectors will be using ISDRs reflecting attainment levels of pupils left the school up to 14 months ago. Using 'secure fit' methodology: Reliable evidence, probably not. Sustainable when challenged, probably not.
Yorkshire Steve@Yorkshire_Steve
@sciantificnew I would have been interested .... but I'll be on my way back from doing some work in London. Another time, perhaps.
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Is @Ofstednews driving more heads and teachers to the edge?
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@SecretBusMgr @SwailesRuth And the off-loaded pupils end up at another school and the process re-starts...
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@Julespg @SwailesRuth have the potential opposite effect if becomes a purely tick box exercise.
HT cannot get a secure fit, so moves on
School cannot get a HT, or even a HoS
So the deputy acts up, just holding the fort
School gets rebrokered
But unless grass flattened no 'progress'
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After leading 41 training sessions, visiting 27 schools and working with thousands of teachers since January, I think I’ve got a fairly good handle on the mood in the profession. Here’s what I’ve observed.
Everyone is working flat out. Harder than they’ve ever worked before.
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@SwailesRuth This is all consistent with what I'm finding, Ruth. 'Secure fit' is a curse and it's impossible for inspection to be anything other than a tick-box exercise while they insist on this approach. We have staff & leaders turning themselves inside out to be told 'not good enough,'
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Significant and relevant experience in the key stage they’re inspecting and have also led a school. Not a department, a school.
End.
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@SwailesRuth Exactly. The default position under this framework is that lack of evidence - simply due to time - means 'not good enough'. And have all inspectors got the same understanding of 'recent'?
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This phrase, which would put a school into the "needs attention" category, is causing huge alarm. In schools where leaders know things aren't quite right, they're reluctant to make any changes because they're "In the window" and unsure how recent a change needs to be to fit!
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@FrankWNorris Same here. Is anyone at Ofsted even slightly interested?
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I have had similar calls. It is what drives me in trying to achieve reform in Ofsted's work.
Edmund Barnett-Ward@Edmund_B_W
@moonrakerteach Pete, we have already come far far too close to a tragedy already. People do not reach out to Julia and myself lightly. It takes an extraordinary amount of courage to tell a stranger that you're in the darkest possible place and it is already happening under this 'new' framework.
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@kennygfrederick And there’s always some people who are keen to tell everyone that they came out of the process OK. But instead of bragging, they need to see the damage that inspection is causing to their colleagues in other schools.
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That’s the problem and also the fact that Ofsted are allowed by law to enter or schools… However…. If schools & heads, teachers, governors & parents and unions don’t take action the rot will continue. Time to
#RiseUpAndTakeAction
Rae@ragefighthouse
The one thing that is uniting everyone in education right now is the rage at Ofsted. Will this finally be the point where everyone—teachers, heads, CEOs—finally rise up against the tyranny set on destroying schools? lol no. Can’t risk a paycheque or student learning time!!! 🦶🏻🔫
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Just spoken with a HT I respect enormously. He said that Ofsted’s supposed emphasis on inclusion was just a big con. There is currently no mechanism for measuring ’average progress’ so it’s all down to attainment & those working in the toughest schools will get hit.
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In 2023, none of the academies in HMCI's MAT had a positive P8 for disadvantaged pupils.
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@Janroweljmu @Edmund_B_W @Andreacurran15 How incredibly disappointing. How do ASCL members feel about this?
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@Edmund_B_W @Andreacurran15 @Julespg And no Q and A apparently, so he couldn’t even be challenged. They must have agreed that.
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Julie Price Grimshaw retweetledi
I’ve been away for a bit. We haven’t been having the best time, to be honest. I’ve noticed a few things happening with Ofsted and their supporters recently, and I’ve written about it.
Ofsted, of course, are driving on regardless.
difficultlessons.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/dri…
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@Janroweljmu @Edmund_B_W @Andreacurran15 One HT resigned recently saying they could no longer do the job because they were nothing more than a ‘puppet for the MAT.’
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@Julespg @Edmund_B_W @Andreacurran15 If that happens, it’s dreadful, and highlights other systemic problems. If headteachers don’t have autonomy over their decisions, then we’re really in a bad place.
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@ValerieKayD I just worry that some MATs will insist that HTs become part of this & the HTs won’t be in a position to refuse. Very worrying.
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@Julespg If they all stood down it would force change - those becoming inspectors continue the process as it is - change is essential
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I’m concerned that some HTs will now be railroaded into becoming inspectors. Inspection remains a high-stakes process & should not be seen as a form of CPD. If we had a system based on true peer review, things would be different-but we are stuck with an awful framework.
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@Janroweljmu @Edmund_B_W @Andreacurran15 Jan, you are absolutely right - but it looks like the new arrangements may see unwilling HTs in some MATs being signed up with little say in the matter. I find this incredibly worrying.
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@Edmund_B_W @Andreacurran15 @Julespg School leaders have power. Power not to inspect their colleagues. This would force system collapse. It’s time to challenge those who sign up.
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@MathsladyScott My thoughts exactly! But sadly, some people really are blinded by ambition to the extent that they will become part of a harmful machine. I know that these people exist, but I remain unconvinced that there are ‘thousands’ of them!
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I would not want to be an inspector again. I would want to be somebody who supports schools celebrating their good practice. 🤔😀
Julie Price Grimshaw@Julespg
HMCI says ‘I know there are thousands of you who want to be inspectors’. Evidence for this statement, please?
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I do have evidence of massive concern about the current framework, just four months in. But Ofsted’s main concern is getting more inspectors- not listening to HTs who are incredibly concerned.
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HMCI says ‘I know there are thousands of you who want to be inspectors’. Evidence for this statement, please?
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@moonrakerteach @SwailesRuth @ShakinthatChalk I agree 100% Pete. I had high hopes and feel completely let down.
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@Julespg @SwailesRuth @ShakinthatChalk Appalled that the Secretary of State for Education allowed this mess to happen. She allowed Ofsted to rebrand whilst disregarding the professional input of so many. I so hoped for better than this,
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Maybe just my timeline but I’m seeing so much discontent verging on disgust for OFSTED.
I’m sensing the profession is deeply disillusioned and quite frankly fed up with it.
There is a better way if OFSTED chooses to actually listen.
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