A really simple proposal on how Ofsted could promote inclusive practice. No, really.
In 2014 the Children’s Commissioner produced a report into admissions practices in schools in England, called “It might be best if you looked elsewhere”, which is a quote from one school to the parent of a prospective pupil for that school. Link: It_might_be_best_if_you_looked_elsewhere.pdf (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk)
What did they find? In brief, that some schools were operating illegally and discriminating against certain prospective pupils either directly or indirectly. For example, direct discrimination might be not wanting a child with SEND needs, because the school perceives this in negative terms: too expensive/bringing down exam results and/or league table position. Indirect discrimination might take the form of inflexibly insisting on an expensive school uniform kit, unaffordable to some families, or charging ridiculous costs for trips.
The report makes recommendations, firstly asking for more research on this issue, then under the headings of Equality concerns and Legal ambiguity. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to discover if the government at the time (Cameron’s), or any subsequent one, made any response to these (please let me know through this website if you know of any response).
That was then, and this is now. As budgets and other resources have further diminished since 2014 (especially, and disproportionately, in relation to provision for pupils with SEND), and in-work poverty has continued to rocket under the Conservatives, there is no reason to believe that this discrimination has gone away. Indeed, anecdotally, it is now more prevalent than in 2014. I believe, however, that discrimination in admissions is just the tip of a systemic deficit in Inclusive Practice more generally, in relation to the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Can nothing be done? Yes, it seems to me there is a simple, virtually cost-free and immediately effective solution to this, which is:
make an Ofsted Grade 1/Outstanding judgment entirely dependent on demonstrating Outstanding Inclusive Practice across the school
The school leadership would then have to prioritise Inclusive Practice over everything else (yes, even assessment data) in order to achieve Outstanding. Criteria and best practice for Inclusive Practice would be straightforward to generate, by a group of excellent practitioners (certainly not politicians or civil servants), and would also include input from pupils who have lived experience of benefitting from high-quality Inclusive Practice, in a range of contexts.
If this were done, then Ofsted could, for perhaps the first time in its history, perform a crucial role in significantly improving equality of opportunity for all pupils in all schools.
Max Fishel.
Max is currently a member of pdnet, and governor of a mainstream primary school. He is Member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for u3a and attends and contributes to various All Party Parliamentary Groups focussing on Disability and Education. He has 40 years experience of the State education sector, most recently as assistant Headteacher in a special school, and lead for a team of Specialist Advisory teachers for physical Disability. He also performs stand-up spoken word poetry and is a musician.