Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher

Father of two, rock n roll headteacher (according to Steve Lamacq),music lover & birdwatcher. All views are my own.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@Headteacherchat So so tired. No energy for anything. This school week has been all-consuming.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@markpat89782968 @soundstoryuk Wow...I need to up my merch game!

[Edmund Barnett-Ward @Edmund_B_W]

I’ve been quiet on the subject of Ofsted recently, waiting for details to surface before commenting. So, we can see from TES and The Guardian that details have now emerged about the ‘scorecard’ system set to replace the current inspection framework next September…

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@keith_campion Absolutely. It's utterly insane that they would even consider it.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@Headteacherchat Absolutely dreadful. No change at all. No surprise though.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@TTRadioOfficial So nothing has changed

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@BladeoftheS Pudsey and Rupert

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@garygilligan Pudsey?

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@antiacademies Not a surprise to read. Shocking that this dismantling of the career is happening.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@RoughTrade New @dearybanduk EP is wonderful...then just work backwards...@whitelandsband @slowdiveband @rideox4 @Andybebop solo albums, @soniccathedral releases, MBV Pale Saints Chapterhouse Swervedriver etc etc

[Norman Records @normanrecords]

WIN! - A Copy of The Cure’s 'Songs of a Lost World'

@thecure make a very welcome return next week with their first LP in years.

To celebrate, we're giving away a coloured/marble vinyl copy.

Simply like, share, and give our page a follow to be entered.

https://t.co/SInFWvWj8i

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@RoughTrade Trainers, tracksuits, stopwatch...Public Enemy 4 me

[Tom Rogers @RogersHistory]

I know overall grades have gone, but I have all sorts of thoughts on the new 10 point 'scorecard' coming soon.... My 8 reasons why OFSTED still needs way more serious reform... and yes perhaps even doing away with.....

1. Unfair judgements - as inspections last for 2 days and are done by a small group of humans (sometimes 1 human), the chance for unreliable judgements is incredibly high.

2. OFSTED doesn’t help schools to improve - following an inspection, OFSTED doesn’t help a school or it’s staff. For example ‘this school has bad behaviour in it’ - they walk away post inspection not to be seen until the next inspection. There is no school improvement arm to OFSTED. "It's not our job" - make it your job to help!

3. Impact of a poor inspection - this links to 1 and 2, but the community impact can be as follows: a) parents don’t want to send their kids to the school (each child is worth money to the school) b) some teachers don’t want to join the school as scared off (scorecard won't change this) c) and prob the biggest - the psychological imprint of a poor inspection is something I can’t imagine having to deal with as a school leader. But what I know is - it can be devastating for an individual and their family.

4. Pay and budgets - HMI pay is 63,000-75,000 a year. OFSTED budget is £150 million a year. Bonuses are still awarded to OFSTED senior leaders usually between 5000 and 20000 - OFSTED haven’t disclosed what these bonuses are for. In a school funding crisis, where teachers and TAs are having to battle for relatively small increases, surely this is wrong.

5. Impact of OFSTED pressure - it won’t take you long to find examples of leaders needing healthcare as a result of the pressure of upcoming inspection. 'The Window' is punishing. The 'Wait' is pure anguish. The lottery of ‘who you get through the door’ and ‘what their lines of enquiry might be’ causes uncertainty, doubt and stress. All have lasting health impacts.

6. ‘Doing it for OFSTED’ - It would appear that the new OFSTED 'thing' could be attendance. Get ready for the warp drive of attendance improvement consultants, crazy attendance strategies and policies, HTs losing their standing cos of attendance, insets about attendance, workload cos of attendance. OFSTED say no one should do anything for them which is easy for them to say when their own careers don’t rest on OFSTEDs judgements. Schools feel they need to ‘do’ all the time - new policies, new protocols, to ‘keep up’ with other schools and OFSTED themselves. The competition culture OFSTED inspires is damaging.

7. There are alternatives - the system doesn’t have to exist. Other countries do things very differently - take Italy, Ireland, Finland and Germany as just a few examples very close to home. It can’t possibly be argued that the English education system is better off than any of these by employing the system it does.

8. There is no evidence everything would fall apart without OFSTED inspections - what’s the harm in giving it a try for a year or two? What’s the harm in a 5 year experiment - no OFSTED scorecards, report cards, 2 day judgements whatsoever for 5 years and then survey schools, parents and children to find out about what’s changed for them positive or negative?

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@dave_mcpartlin Surely unions will do something about this? We cannot be held accountable for illness, parental choice etc. Such a backward step. @bphillipsonMP this is not an improvement in any form.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@anon_opin Sorry to say I agree about the quality of music. Hey Ma album their last strong album. Newer albums too loud in production and a tad Coldplayish, with lyrics Nothing wrong with them wanting to sell tickets and it's their band not mine. @Larryontour very much missed.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@GingerWildheart Public Enemy were my Beatles

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@bodeganotts @NCFC_Women When will the kit be available to buy?

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@fit_as_fuc A cover of The Wheelbarrow song on the next SM's album plz Jas! Or just you reading the squad names out over some of Andrew's marvellous vibes?!

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@AndrewDMorrish @NAHTnews @Ofstednews Absolutely. I'm head of a small school and our last inspection treated us as if we were a secondary school. Utterly ridiculous.

[Rock 'n' Roll Headteacher @RJC88719151]

@normanrecords Looking forward to this one!