Does the pause to inspections go far enough?

New Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver has decided to pause inspections in the wake of the inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. It’s fair to say that the reaction has been mixed. For some it goes too far, for others not far enough.

In the former camp is The Times, which, in a leader article, thundered that Sir Martyn’s “willingness to accede to union demands is troubling.” It went on to say that he “will need to show that he is willing to confront unions when necessary. A tough regulator is bound to clash with those it is regulating.” 

Others, however, feel that a pause of inspections to 22 January isn’t sufficient to bring about meaningful change. The head of one school told The Observer: “We are just expected to go back to normal after this short pause, but nothing is really changing. I think I am well within my rights to say: ‘You’re not coming in’.”

It is interesting to look at how Sir Martyn himself sees things – something he went into in some detail during an all-inspector mental health awareness training webinar earlier this week which Ofsted posted on YouTube.