“All school leaders understand the importance of early years education and providing pupils with the tools they need to succeed.
“As this report rightly recognises, schools are still navigating the impact of the pandemic and the resulting developmental delays they are seeing in some children.
“There has been a lack of sufficient investment to help schools manage this situation and many primary schools operate with severely constrained resources. It is challenging to tailor learning around individuals when you do not have enough funding, staff or specialist support.
“While Ofsted’s findings may be helpful for some schools to consider, it’s important these recommendations do not place additional accountability burdens on schools that go beyond the published handbook.
“We are concerned about the increasing role Ofsted appears to be playing in influencing, as opposed to merely inspecting, what schools are doing.”