Continual barrage of derogatory announcements will lead to exodus of school leaders

Responding to remarks made in the Sunday Times by chief inspector Michael Wilshaw that there are 5,000 underperforming headteachers, Brian Lightman said:

“I am disappointed that the new chief inspector would make such an assertion based on a misinterpretation of statistics. It assumes a direct link between heads’ performance and Ofsted judgements on leadership and management, which Ofsted itself admits are limited by exam results, and certainly are a reflection of more than the performance of the head. It also makes the assumption that Ofsted inspections are consistent and it ignores the fact that Ofsted has raised the bar on inspection two times in the last three years. What these statistics actually say is that the leadership in 76% of schools is good or outstanding – a cause for celebration in itself.

“In the same way that the chief inspector says that poor school leadership leads to low morale and an exodus from the classroom, constant criticism and abuse from the government will lead to an exodus of headteachers, with very little incentive for others to pick up the pieces. If it continues, the government is going to find itself disenfranchising the very people it needs to lead our education service, rather than creating the high status profession it claims to want.  

“School leadership is a rewarding but also incredibly demanding profession and those who take on these roles do so because they want to make a difference to children’s lives.  Of course there is room for improvement and, as in any other walk of life,  in the small minority of cases where there is chronic underperformance, decisive action needs to be taken. However the way to improve education in England is to support and encourage the dedicated heads and teachers already in the profession, working in sometimes very challenging circumstances, rather than driving them out with a tirade of derogatory announcements. ASCL calls upon the government and Ofsted to make it an urgent priority to stop undermining public confidence and the morale of the profession.”

6 February 2012