Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw wants robust,failsafe oversight. But with more schools becoming independent, the question is where that will come fromThe speed-up to Christmas has a bit of a Groundhog Day feel. One dictionary definition describes this as a series of tedious events that appear to recur in precisely the same way. Last week we had an annual Ofsted report flagging up continuing destitute performance in some parts of the country, or coinciding with the government telling us more schools,in fact ALL schools, own to become academies. Sound familiar?This is in spite of Sir Michael Wilshaw’s observation that the debate approximately school autonomy is “sterile”. Success or failure doesn’t automatically follow from a school’s type. What matters is whether independence is well used, or leadership strong and oversight “sufficiently robust”.
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Source: theguardian.com