The tragic news of the death of a headteacher in Reading should shock everyone involved in education.
But it should not take a shock such as this to progress change to the accountability systems in schools and colleges.
The current system of assessment that means our children are formally measured in 5 out of 7 years in primary school, including within months of first beginning education, is unnecessary, drives workload and stress, and puts pressure on schools to always achieve, even when that is not in a child’s best interests.
Similarly, the inspection system is designed to focus on achievement. It looks at pupil progress against data targets, it looks at achievement and compares it to other schools – regardless of the context – and it then grades schools with just one or two words.
