North Northants NEU branch call for schools to ‘ban the banners’ associated with Ofsted gradings and single word judgements

Senior officers from the North Northants branch of the National Education Union (NEU) have written to all headteachers in the area calling for schools to 'ban the banners' associated with Ofsted gradings and single word judgements.

They’ve asked them to ‘please stop referring to Ofsted’s single-word judgements on roadside banners, stationery, and email footers’.

They say they are calling for this for the mental health and well-being of their teachers and staff.

The letter says: “Imagine being a member of staff at a school that has been judged ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’. Imagine having to drive past schools that have roadside banners emblazoned with ‘Outstanding – Ofsted’ or ‘Good – Ofsted’. Imagine how that must feel for your colleagues and how that impacts on their well-being and mental health.”

They’ve urged that schools should not be pitted against one another and instead the education system should be collaborative, companionable and compassionate.

“Schools should not be in competition with each other. The NEU wants every school to be an outstanding educational environment for all pupils, that’s what you headteachers strive for every day.

"Education is not a sport where you want to grind your opponent into the ground, demoralise them for your benefit and defeat them by having a better Ofsted judgement. Our education system should be collaborative, our education system should be companionable, our education system should be compassionate.”

This effort from the NEU comes in the wake of the case of Ruth Perry, headteacher at Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire who took her own life in January last year while waiting for the publication of a report that downgraded her school from outstanding to inadequate.

In their letter they say that her case ‘highlights the danger that these judgements create’. They also say that ‘Ofsted has been cited as a contributory factor in the deaths of at least 10 other education professionals in recent years’.

The letter was signed off by Simon Reilly, North Northants branch secretary, Phil Monk, North Northants district secretary, and Lauren Ellis, East Northants district secretary.

They close the letter by saying: “Together, we can honour the memory of Ruth Perry. Together, we can choose not to promote the single-word Ofsted judgements. Together, we can show compassion.”