Schools have been “left looking like the villains” on the issue of school absence, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) is expected to say today.
Addressing delegates at ASCL’s annual conference in Liverpool, Pepe Di’Iasio will also tell school leaders that, in response to Ofsted’s proposed changes to the school inspection system, his union will advocate for three grades instead of the watchdog’s “Nando’s-style five-point scale”.
“We fully support accountability,” Mr Di’Iasio is expected to say, and while he asserts that ASCL supports the “principle of [the introduction of inspection] report cards”, he does not advocate it “like this”.
‘Sledgehammer’ to teacher recruitment
His comments will come after Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver told the conference yesterday that the most vocal critics of the inspectorate’s proposals want a “low-accountability system”.
This week Mr Di’Iasio expressed further concerns about Ofsted’s report card proposals in an interview with Tes, warning that the plans will take a “sledgehammer” to efforts to increase teacher recruitment.
Today the general secretary will suggest a simpler approach to grading schools in inspections, whereby schools are assessed on whether or not they meet different criteria.
He will call for three grades instead of five, arguing that there is “no need to introduce excessive distinctions” such as “strong” and “exemplary”, which risk “sending the message that good isn’t really good enough”.
Schools ‘under siege’
The ASCL chief will also tell school leaders that he knows they feel “under siege from a growing culture of complaints” and that he wants to ”address the increasingly strained relationship” with parents.
He will warn that these complaints are often “amplified on social media, adding further pressure to already overstretched staff, who feel unable to respond”.
ASCL president Manny Botwe used his conference speech yesterday to warn that social media platforms are “being weaponised” against schools and teachers, and “need to be brought to heel”.
Mr Di’Iasio will also highlight a new survey conducted on behalf of ASCL by Teacher Tapp, which shows that parents and carers are most likely to list term-time holidays as the reason why they take their child out of school. This reason was cited by 93 per cent of respondents.
This proportion has increased compared with last year, when term-time holidays were cited by 87 per cent of respondents.
The number of fines issued to parents for unauthorised term-time holidays increased by almost a quarter in the past academic year, according to the latest government data.
Mr Di’Iasio will warn that the “blunt instrument of fines is not reversing this trend” and instead “deepens tensions between schools and parents”. “Schools, simply enforcing the rules, are left looking like the villains,” he will add.
However, the union’s polling reveals that families are increasingly likely to say that their child is too anxious about school to attend. Mr Di’Iasio will say that the findings on school-related anxiety highlight the urgent need for better mental health support.
“We all know something changed in society after the Covid-19 pandemic,” he will say. “I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but for some families, school seems to have become - at least in part - optional. And that mindset persists.”
Action on SEND ‘can’t come soon enough’
On special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), Mr Di’Iasio will say he knows that education secretary Bridget Philipson recognises the “scale of the challenge and is committed to change”, but he will warn that “action cannot come soon enough”.
The general secretary will demand that every teacher and school leader be equipped with the right training and support to work with children with SEND, and that “every education policy must be viewed through the lens of SEND”.
He will further call for more early intervention and a guarantee that all children have access to the specialists they need.
“Fixing the SEND system is about sustainability,” Mr Di’Iasio will say. “But more than that, it’s about ensuring children get the support they need when they need it.”
Mr Di’Iasio will address the ASCL conference ahead of Tom Rees, the government’s lead inclusion adviser.
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