Opinion

Sarah Mackenzie: Ofsted isn't asking the right questions

Ofsted has launched its Big Listen – but the inspectorate is asking the wrong questions, and thereby avoiding any proper self-reflection
Sarah Mackenzie
Sarah Mackenzie

The Big Listen is here, and whatever you make of it, I’d urge you to respond. There was a time, in the pre-Ofsted Big Conversation days, when it felt like there was no opportunity for dialogue, no openness to listening, to change. So, we should grab this opportunity.

Sir Martyn Oliver has expressed a desire to listen, to change, to the possibility of a new guard. However, whoever advised him on the content of The Big Listen appears to be firmly from the old guard. After some frustrated scrolling, with no option to select that I was a leader, proprietor or registered provider, as I would have been able to if I was in social care, independent schools or FE, I selected that I am ‘employed in a registered childcare setting’ and moved onto the questions.

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