Category Archives: Accountability

Wagging the Dog

Posted on January 8, 2020 by suecowley

In 1992, the same year that I started my teaching degree, a new organisation was established to inspect standards in education. The national inspectorate known as Ofsted replaced the previous system of inspections, which were carried out by HMIs within … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Bold Beginnings, Children, EYFS, Ofsted | 2 Comments

Joining the Dots

Posted on December 8, 2018 by suecowley

At the same time as testing increases and we put ever more pressure on children to achieve high academic results we see rising rates of poor mental health in young people. At the same time as schools are being put … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Behaviour, Government, Ofsted | 1 Comment

Mirror Mirror

Posted on March 10, 2018 by suecowley

According to Damian Hinds (and various friends of the DfE) there are a handful of reasons for the slight recruitment and retention hiccup currently troubling a couple of England’s schools, and Damian has a list of handy ways to solve … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Ofsted | 2 Comments

The Blame Game

Posted on October 11, 2017 by suecowley

When Michael Wilshaw was HMCI, he had a very bad habit of announcing his opinions in The Sunday Times. One particularly striking moment was when he called for a “Renaissance of Respect” in the nation’s schools, which first of all … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Ofsted, Testing | 1 Comment

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Assessment?

Posted on July 14, 2016 by suecowley

“What have you got for me?” She sat down on the leather chair and put her hands on the desk. She leaned forwards slightly, but she didn’t meet their eyes. They looked nervously at each other. Who would be first … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Assessment, Parents, SATs | Leave a comment

And If You Tolerate This

Posted on February 5, 2015 by suecowley

I spent today delving into the details of the approved providers for the Reception Baseline Test (and, no, I’m not going to call them ‘assessments’ like the DfE and the approved providers all do, because they are tests). Worryingly, three providers … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Children, Testing | 19 Comments

100% Attendance

Posted on February 3, 2015 by suecowley

We’re sat in the outpatient ward of the children’s hospital. Fortunately for us, the reason we are here is not too serious (although it does mean fairly frequent days out of school). This time round, there has been an administrative … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Children | 14 Comments

Have a Little Faith

Posted on January 24, 2014 by suecowley

Dear Mr Hunt, Trust is at the heart of relationships. When you give someone your trust, you boost them up. You send them the message that ‘I have faith in you‘ or ‘I believe you can do this’. Sometimes you … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Government, Trust | 3 Comments