School leaders' union launches legal action against Ofsted over report card plan
A school leaders' union has launched legal action against Ofsted over the potential impact of their inspection proposals on the mental health of headteachers and school staff.
The NAHT school leaders' union issued a claim to the High Court for judicial review on Friday as it says that adequate consultation has not been conducted regarding the education watchdog's report card plans.
The claim comes ahead of the NAHT's annual conference in Harrogate North Yorkshire, this weekend.
Under Ofsted's plans, which were set out in a consultation in February, schools in England could be graded across eight to 10 areas of a provision using a colour-coded five-point scale.
They would receive ratings, from the red 'causing concern' to orange 'attention needed', through the green shades of 'secure', 'strong' and 'exemplary' for each area of practice.
The NAHT has said Ofsted's report card proposals involve an increased number of graded sub-judgments, which school leaders fear will only increase high-stakes accountability and pressure.
A motion to be debated at the NAHT annual conference on Saturday calls for the introduction of Ofsted report cards as a measure of school accountability to be 'opposed'.
The motion, on which conference delegates will vote, calls for all 'legal and industrial options' to be explored fully to protect the mental and physical health and wellbeing of school leaders and staff.
Last year, the Government announced that headline Ofsted grades for overall effectiveness for schools in England would be scrapped.
Previously, Ofsted awarded one of four single-phrase inspection judgments: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
The move came after Ofsted faced criticism after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Mrs Perry took her own life in January 2023 after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, from the highest to the lowest overall effectiveness rating over safeguarding concerns.
On Monday, Julia Waters, Mrs Perry's sister, joined education professionals in an open letter to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson calling for proposed changes to Ofsted inspections to be delayed.
In a fresh statement, Prof Waters said: 'I share the frustration of headteachers. Everyone agrees that schools and teachers should be accountable for the quality of the education they provide. But this new system, proposed for itself by Ofsted, could be worse than the flawed and dangerous process it replaces.
'We have enough evidence from repeated inquiries and other national systems that show what might work better for pupils, parents, and teachers as a system of school inspection in England.'
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said: 'Somehow the focus on school leader mental health and wellbeing has got lost along the way during Ofsted's consultation process.
'We must not forget that the catalyst for these changes was the tragic death of Ruth Perry and widespread acceptance that the inspection regime was placing school leaders under intolerable pressure.
'However, there appears to have been very little thought given to the impact on the wellbeing of school leaders in the drawing up of these plans and the consultation that followed.
'School leaders are deeply concerned that the new report cards could result in an even worse system than before, with potentially disastrous impact on workload, wellbeing and retention.
'We have tried engaging with Ofsted and explaining this, but so far these concerns have fallen largely on deaf ears.
'We have been left with little choice other than to pursue this action.'
An Ofsted spokeswoman said: 'Supporting the mental health of those we inspect is an important part of the development of our proposals and we are already hearing positive feedback through our inspection tests.
'Our legal team have responded robustly to NAHT.
'Their suggested claims are plainly untenable.
'If legal action is launched, we will resist and seek costs.'
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