DR MARY BOUSTED, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, has commented on this year’s Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) annual report on schools in England, which was published on 13 December.
Bousted said: “This is a shocking and unprecedented annual report from Ofsted – testimony to over a decade of neglect of education and the services needed by children with SEND, looked after children and other students who need individual help. Its conclusions about the deep gaps across the education workforce are sobering.
“Education and other vital children’s services are being broken by staffing shortages which leave services on their knees. Ofsted today reports that staff shortages are undermining recovery from the pandemic for children and families. Schools are left as the last public service standing because support services such as children’s social workers and mental health services can’t function effectively because of staff shortages.
“The effects on children at risk and those with SEND are serious. The services upon which these children and their parents depend are stretched or disappearing. The services which schools and colleges need to access to support their students around special needs or mental health simply aren’t there. Early intervention can’t function with these staffing gaps.
“Teacher shortages in schools are having a hugely detrimental impact on the provision of a broad and balanced curriculum, enrichment activities, and timely interventions to support children and young people with SEND. Ofsted today specifically highlights the shortage of support staff. The loss of teaching assistants has a huge impact on tailored support and inclusion and good opportunities for children with additional or special needs.
“The report shows the damage done to education and children’s services after a decade of neglect by this government. DfE [Department for Education] ministers cannot evade their collective and cumulative responsibility for this shocking state of affairs. They have presided over the corrosive underfunding of education; real terms cuts to teacher and support staff pay; and cuts to the services which families in need can’t manage without. The emotional pressure and worry this puts on the education workforce isn’t sustainable.
“Ofsted, however, does not escape responsibility for the problems it describes. Leaders report that teachers are unable to take national professional qualifications, proper CPD [Continuing Professional Development], and are unwilling to apply for subject leader posts because they add so significantly to already excessive workloads. Ofsted is a major driver of unnecessary intensive and excessive workload. Ofsted is regularly put forward as the reason why teachers leave schools in disadvantaged areas. The irony is that Ofsted is fuelling the very same staff turnover highlighted in their annual report and which is identified as making recovery after the pandemic harder than it would be with full staffing levels.
“England needs an inspection system that is supportive and fair and which generates improvement rather than one which is punitive and deeply off-putting to aspiring leaders.”
* Read the report here.
* Source: National Education Union