Weekly round-up: Ofsted reform and the gender pay gap

Catch up on all your must-read education news and analysis from the past seven days right here:

• Scrap Ofsted grades to end ‘football-manager culture’, says report
  Ofsted inspection grades should be scrapped to prevent “over-simplistic” judgements resulting in “brutal” leadership changes that create a “football-manager culture” in schools, according to a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research.
• Reform Ofsted to inspect MATs not schools, inquiry says
  Ofsted school-level inspections should end and the watchdog should be reformed to focus on the work of school groups, such as multi-academy trusts and local councils, according to an inquiry.
• Less than two in five ‘good and improving’ schools get top Ofsted rating
  Less than two in five improving schools told they had a chance of an “outstanding” grade at their next inspection were actually given Ofsted’s top rating, Tes analysis reveals.
• Heads ‘sick, stressed and terrified’ at the thought of Ofsted
  Four in five school leaders lack confidence in Ofsted inspections, the prospect of which is leaving heads feeling “sick, stressed and terrified”, a report warns.
• Spielman: Why we shouldn’t scrap Ofsted grades
  Getting rid of school inspection grades would “significantly” diminish Ofsted’s ability to provide an overview of the school system, chief inspector Amanda Spielman has warned.
• Ofsted’s annual report: everything you need to know
  Amanda Spielman’s final report as the watchdog’s chief inspector contains warnings about the legacy of Covid and the impact of staff shortages on schools.
• Ofsted pushes ahead with complaints shake-up
  Ofsted is set to push ahead with a shake-up of its complaints process that will allow schools to raise concerns to an independent adjudicator more quickly, the watchdog’s national director for education has said.
• Autumn Statement 2023: School leaders ‘bitterly disappointed’
  School leaders have been left “bitterly disappointed” by a lack of new investment in education in the chancellor’s 2023 Autumn Statement.
• Gender pay gap hits 12-year high for secondary heads
  The gender pay gap between male and female headteachers has been revealed by new analysis.
• Barran urges ‘caution’ over school closures amid falling rolls
  Department for Education minister Baroness Barran has urged “caution” over closing schools in the face of falling pupil numbers, which school leaders say are hitting budgets.
• SEND: Schools must take ‘fair share’ of pupils, says DfE
  Schools must take their “fair share” of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to avoid unfairly overloading so-called “magnet” schools that have a good reputation for supporting them, a DfE official has said.
• Johnson: Williamson’s Covid plans for schools ‘probably feeble’
  Then prime minister Boris Johnson described former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson’s plans for schools during the pandemic as “probably feeble”, the Covid inquiry has heard.
• The curious case of the missing psychology teachers
  Psychology is now the second most popular A-level subject in England - but the number of new teachers remains far below what’s needed. So, what’s going on and how can it be fixed, asks Dan Worth.
• How to balance SEND and behaviour management
  While pupils with SEND need tailored support, this should not mean schools abandon consistency in behaviour management, says deputy head Luke Ramsden.
• Three steps to tackle emotionally based school avoidance
  The winner of the Nasen Alternative Provision of the Year Award explains how it is successfully addressing emotionally based school avoidance.