Education secretary should stop ‘choking schools’ with Ofsted inspections, Angela Rayner says

'It is not just about beating schools over the head and threatening them. That gets us absolutely nowhere'

Speaking at the National Association of Head Teachers conference in Liverpool, the shadow education secretary said the current accountability system in schools was unfit for purpose (PA)

Damian Hinds should “stop choking” schools and threatening them with Ofsted inspections, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has said.

Speaking to headteachers in Liverpool, Ms Rayner called on the education secretary to stop “beating schools over the head” with the current inspection regime, and instead to take a collaborative approach.

It comes after Mr Hinds announced plans to overhaul measures used to hold schools to account. But schools will still be forced to become academies if they are judged to be inadequate by Ofsted, he said.

At the annual conference of National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) in Liverpool, Ms Rayner said the current accountability system in schools was unfit for purpose.

The Labour MP questioned the climate in which 10- and 11-year-olds are told they have failed Sats exams, which are supposed to only be used to hold schools to account rather than the children themselves.

“At a time when they are supposed to be excited about going into secondary school they are being told they are not good enough. We are putting them on a constant cycle of testing,” she said.

Her comments come after The Independent revealed that thousands of parents are expected to withdraw their children from the Sats exams as they say accountability data is being put before children’s wellbeing.

Ms Rayner said: “I have got a message for Damian in government – you really do need to stop choking schools and threatening them with the inspection regime at the moment.”

She added: “You need to be supporting and helping them... It is not just about beating schools over the head and threatening them. That gets us absolutely nowhere.”

A motion calling on the NAHT to support school leaders in challenging Ofsted when they investigate complaints from parents against headteachers and senior staff was passed at the conference on Saturday.

Jim Nicholson, from Stockport, who proposed the motion, said: “We never know from what angle or which direction [complaints] will come. School leaders are under fire from the Department for Education (DfE), Ofsted and anyone else who decide to have a pop at us.

“School leaders are vulnerable and easy to attack. We are an easy target for an ever-increasing dissatisfaction in the public realm.”

He added: “It is humbling and heartbreaking to watch professionals shake and cry. To go from being infectiously optimistic to a state of anxiety, paranoia, lack of self-esteem and suffer stress related illness.

“A significant contributory factor that cannot be underestimated is the complaints culture that has been developed over the last three years.”

The shadow education secretary, who received two standing ovations from headteachers for her speech, added: “I really am concerned about the testing regime in primary and in early years. Actually we know through international standards and through the evidence that that actually is not always the best way forward.

“The current system isn’t fit for purpose, it isn’t delivering what we want for our young people. So we need to change that. I want a focus and an emphasis in the early years to make sure we look at child development and look at building children to be resilient.”

The Labour MP said the government’s record on education meant targets for teacher recruitment had not been met for five years, with more teachers now leaving rather than joining the profession and half a million children in “super-size” classes, while teachers had had their pay capped.

“They wouldn’t survive their own Ofsted inspection,” Ms Rayner said.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “We’ll be engaging with Labour’s consultation on their National Education Service and their other policies which affect young people.

“As I said in my conference speech, education is the best route to a happy and fulfilling future for our young people, and the only silver bullet to solving the problems in our society.”