Schools Week reports on a positive note at the beginning of the school year. Lucy Powell, Secretary of State for Education, 'wants the school accountability system to be, “much more supportive and understanding” of the job headteachers do, amid concerns about the pressure of Ofsted inspections'.
We know that, 'the schools watchdog overhauled its inspection framework last year after a coroner ruled in 2023 that an inspection contributed to the suicide of Caversham Primary School headteacher Ruth Perry'. However Schools Week reported that Perry’s sister Julia Waters said she had heard from 12 headteachers inspected under the new framework who had been left feeling suicidal by the experience.
The Times Educational Supplement this week, shared the criticism made of a Ofsted inspection carried out during head’s cancer absence, despite the school requesting the inspection to be delayed (deferral request system). This was ignored and the headteacher was forced to come in despite recovering from her treatment. One might ask what does Ofsted mean by 'wellbeing?'
'Ofsted’s chief inspector Martyn Oliver that Ofsted “take[s] all feedback seriously”. Oliver added: “Our first responsibility is to the education and welfare of children, and that sometimes means we have to deliver difficult judgments when standards fall short. We inspect against the standards that the government – and parents – expect schools to deliver to “But, as a former headteacher myself, the wellbeing of school leaders matters enormously to me” (Schools Week).
Really? Reading between the lines, it appears it is the 'wellbeing' of Ofsted inspections not for the concern of school staff's wellbeing.
By: Mike Aylen
On:04-09-2026
