TEACHER and public sector unions have angrily rebutted attacks contained in the Ofsted Annual Report published on Tuesday.
The report claimed that teaching in 50 per cent of secondary schools inspected in the past year and 43 per cent of primary schools was no better than satisfactory.
Pupils are facing too many ‘dull and uninspiring lessons’, claims the report and the quality of teaching is too ‘variable’.
The report claimed that teaching was often ‘weak in schools where behaviour was poor’.
The number of schools in ‘special measures’ has risen from 193 to 300, the report reveals, while the number given ‘notice to improve’ has risen from 167 to 276.
Issuing the report, Ofsted Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert claimed: ‘The weakest area and the area I’m most concerned about is teaching.
‘Too much teaching is still not good enough and does not deliver what we now expect of it,’ she added.
Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), responded: ‘Once again Ofsted seems to enjoy denigrating the standard of schools in England regardless of the reality and its own findings . . . we should be celebrating that so many schools are doing so well.’
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers said: ‘Our classroom teachers do an amazing job day in day out in often challenging circumstances.
‘As Ofsted says itself, when you look beyond the sensationalist spin on the quality of teaching on our schools, “inadequate teaching” is the exception rather than the rule.
‘If there is anything that is “dull and uninspiring” in our schools it is a curriculum that is narrowed by the series of hoops that schools have to jump through in order to satisfy arbitrary targets which can change with alarming regularity.
‘This often results in a narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the test, simply because schools are fearful of slipping down in the school league tables.
‘Over two thirds of maintained schools were judged as “good” or better yet under half of the academies inspected reached this level.
‘Surely this must end the myth that academy status equates with excellence.
‘It will be no comfort to the majority of children’s centres which Ofsted say are providing such an outstanding level of child care provision when they know that the Government wants to remove the qualified teacher status requirement from them.
‘It is this very requirement which has contributed greatly to their success.’
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, teachers’ union, said: ‘The Coalition Government’s planned programme of education reforms and cuts to public spending flies in the face of Ofsted’s evidence and will do untold damage to the quality of teaching and learning in schools.
‘The Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector confirms that schools are delivering incredible results in the most trying and difficult circumstances.
‘Teachers and school leaders are working tirelessly to raise the morale and motivation of young people whose only future under this Government is unemployment or debt if they go onto higher education.
‘High quality early years education is critical to children’s success in later life.
‘However, improvements secured by early years teachers and support staff are being seriously jeopardised as a result of the Coalition Government’s public spending cuts.
‘The Coalition Government’s decision to press ahead with the implementation of a flawed funding formula for all early years education provision risks the closure of high quality school-based provision for three and four-year-olds and penalises those local authorities who have been investing in such provision for years.
‘Whilst there will always be areas for improvement, successive Ofsted reports confirm that educational excellence is a key characteristic of provision within the maintained state schools sector.
‘In view of the overwhelming evidence from inspections and research, the Coalition Government must be challenged about its ideologically-driven policy of academies and free schools.
‘The confirmation by Ofsted that successful schools collaborate with other schools and work closely with parents and local communities should send an important message to the Coalition Government that removing provision for community cohesion from the inspection framework will further threaten educational standards.
‘On the eve of the publication of the Coalition Government’s Education White Paper, it will come as further irritation to Ministers that Ofsted’s view is that high quality education for pupils depends on initial teacher education partnerships led by the higher education sector.’
l Children’s social services are under enormous pressure as they struggle to cope with increasing workloads and staff shortages, according to the Ofsted Annual Report.
Helga Pile, Unison national officer for social work, said: ‘Social work is one of the toughest jobs going.
‘Time and time again, Unison has warned that social workers are struggling with heavy caseloads, and are not getting the support they need to do their jobs.
‘Social workers consistently say they do not have enough time to spend with the children in their care.
‘The tragic cases that hit the headlines show just how badly things can go wrong when workloads spiral out of control.
‘Every report into social services raises the same concerns. How much more evidence do we need before the government and employers take action?
‘Unison is campaigning for a new contract for social workers, setting out the minimum standards they need to practice safely.
‘This must include strict limits on caseloads, the right to have their professional concerns heard and acted upon, the right to a minimum level of professional supervision and to keep their skills up-to-date.
‘The worry is that things will get worse, not better.
‘As the cuts really start to bite, the pressure on families will increase, and referrals to social work departments will rise.
‘Unemployment adds real pressure on families and many services that people rely on for help are being axed.
‘Although child protection workers are not yet losing their jobs, the vital support network they depend on is being taken away.
‘All across the country admin staff and early intervention family support workers are losing their jobs as a result of the 27 per cent cuts hitting councils.’
In order to practice safely, and effectively, social workers should have a new contract with the government and with employers, that gives them:
1. The right to a manageable workload with a reasonable number and mix of cases. In high risk areas like child protection, mental health and older people’s teams, we believe the Government should publish a recognised benchmark that practitioners can use to raise the alarm when caseloads are becoming too high.
2. The right to have time off or get paid to compensate when excess hours are worked.
3. The right to raise professional concerns when workloads become unmanageable to the highest level of their organisation, for example to an elected member, board member or trustee.
4. The right to a minimum of monthly professional supervision from a qualified social worker of at least one and a half hours and more frequently for newly qualified social workers.
5. The right to 10 per cent of working time to be available for continuing professional development and related activities like reflective practice, mentoring colleagues, supporting students and peer support.
6. The right to a functioning IT system and adequate administrative support so that social workers can use their time on activity that requires their expertise.
7. The right to safe working practices, which address the high risks social workers are exposed to from lone working, threats and attacks.
8. The right for support to deal with stress and traumatic cases.
9. The right to management training and realistic limits on the numbers of social workers any one manager is expected to supervise.
10. The right to a clear definition of respective roles between assistant practitioners and qualified social workers so that there is clarity about who is responsible for cases.