Julie McCulloch, Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to Ofsted’s annual report.
“This report lays out many of the challenges being faced by school leaders on a daily basis, including absence rates which remain higher than before the pandemic. This is largely being driven by high rates of mental health issues such as severe anxiety, a rising number of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and a system which has not received the investment required in order to provide timely support. In many cases there is not the specialist capacity available to meet the growing level of need, with local services also struggling to meet the demand from children and families.
“Schools are striving to maximize the education their pupils receive, even in very difficult circumstances. Where hybrid models are being adopted, this is often in cases where children have not been attending school at all and forms part of a pathway back to full-time education.
“As we move forwards towards a different system of inspection, it’s vital the new model does a better job of accounting for contextual factors and provides a more rounded picture of a school’s performance.”