Ofsted is proposing that the same inspection framework can apply to two-year olds, teenagers, those in FE, and those taking apprenticeships. This is a ridiculous idea – great for Ofsted though, which is clearly what matters.
There is much emphasis in what Ofsted says on the promotion of British values – whatever these are in our internationalised world. How are these different from Swedish, German, Canadian, and Australian values? We are not told. Is it our liking for John Major-style warm beer, hot strong tea, queuing, and old musicals on TV?
That apart, what strikes you about what Ofsted says is how much "guidance" (that is to say, specification) is set out in relation to what schools have to do to get good grades. It amounts to a curriculum where the inspection tail is vigouorsly wagging the school dog. Kipling wrote about this sort of thing (sort of):
ENGLAND'S on the anvil – hear the hammers ring –
Clanging from the Severn to the Tyne!
Never was a blacksmith like our Ofsted King –
England's being hammered, hammered, hammered into line!
Needless to say, there is no emphasis on sustainability – obviously caring about the rest of humanity and the biosphere is not seen as a British value.
Responses
Thanks, Bill, for your unceasing stream of ever-stimulating observations and useful links that I raid and incorporate into the resource platform Community Action for Spaceship Earth that I am building for educators. I lament also the OFSTED and political leaders' failure to promote as a 'British value' the notion of 'sufficiency' in addition to sustainability. 'Sufficient for the well-being of all (sentient species and their natural life-support systems)' may be an unsustainable equitable ideal on an overfull planet, but for an affluent post-colonial country, an ethic of sufficiency would be something worth hammering out on OFSTED's anvil. Sadly, the ESD lobby is a mosquito trying to pierce the hide of the elephant of exponential growth that occupies the land.