‘Bullying’ Ofsted too test-obsessed to understand Steiner schools, say experts in response to watchdog’s condemnation

Exclusive: Former Archbishop of Canterbury is among signatories of a letter calling for Ofsted to change

Rudolf Steiner School (Creative Commons/Nigel Cox)

Ofsted’s criticism of Steiner schools is “wrong” because the unique education philosophy cannot be fairly assessed under the rigid inspection system, a group of educationalists has argued.

After the watchdog decided to downgrade a group of Steiner schools, the experts said the decision was “misguided” and ignores high satisfaction of parents.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is among the signatories of a joint letter the experts sent to Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, which has been seen exclusively by The Independent.

The former chief commissioner for schools Tim Brighouse also signed the letter, along with more than a dozen professors of education.

They call for Ofsted to be replaced with a more “supportive” inspectorate that does not “punish, bully and publicly humiliate”. The watchdog had urged the government to investigate whether the principles of Steiner education had led to “common failures” among a string of schools it judged “inadequate”.

In Steiner schools, young pupils learn through play and creative activities and tend not to start formal academic studies until the age of seven.

The schools, developed from the theories of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, give as much weight to children’s spiritual, emotional and creative development as to the three Rs.

Ms Spielman previously said that government should consider shutting down Steiner schools, arguing they fail to keep children safe or provide quality education.

But the letter argues families who have deliberately chosen a Steiner school to escape “testing-obsessed” education had been left distressed by her “unwarranted attack”.

It adds that some schools were criticised by inspectors for the late point at which pupils are taught phonics – the constituent sounds of words. But critics say this is incompatible with the Steiner way of teaching.

The letter reads: “This judgement is clearly based on ignorance of the school’s background, whereby a school is criticised and deemed ‘inadequate’ by inspectors who are imposing an alien pedagogical ideology on to tried-and-tested Steiner pedagogy.”

The signatories added that the greater emphasis on the creativity and joy in learning in the Steiner curriculum are “impossible to assess within the fixed grading system to which Ofsted rigidly adheres”.

Earlier this year, a number of Steiner schools were heavily criticised by Ofsted for failing to protect pupils and provide quality teaching.

Inspectors found that children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) were disproportionately excluded or absent.

They also witnessed “inappropriate physical handling” of children and a failure to make appropriate referrals when pupils were at risk of harm.

The governors of Steiner Academy Bristol had planned to launch a judicial review against Ofsted’s damning judgement following a backlash from parents at the school.

But a letter to parents, seen by The Independent, says the legal challenge has been withdrawn as they were unable to raise enough money to take it to the High Court.

The decision also comes after it was announced that the Bristol school, as well as two other Steiner schools placed in special measures last year, will be taken over by academy chain Avanti Schools Trust.

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Ofsted has a duty to report as we find, and we inspect all schools on their individual merits.

“We have recently judged some Steiner schools to be good, but at a number of schools we found that the leadership was not fit for purpose and staff were not addressing risks to pupils’ welfare.

“In the worst cases, inspectors witnessed inappropriate physical handling of children and a failure to make appropriate referrals to the local authority when pupils were clearly at risk of harm.”

They added: “In short, the findings of our inspections of these schools are well founded and fair, and we stand by our judgements.”