29/6/16 CommonsEd Ctte interviews Amanda Spielman candidate for Ofsted Chief Inspector

Jul 07, 2016, 08:10 AM

Child protection is a 'national threat' according to the Prime Minister. This resulted in the committee spending just 6 minutes on the subject during the 95 minute interview with Ms Spielman. The Committee seems unaware that more than 50% work time at the DfE is spent on child protection.

The question about the buck stopping with Ofsted is simply illiterate and prompts one to ask what understanding the Committee has of the fractured child protection framework? Some questions were meniscus skimming attempts to appear credible.

The key question for Ofsted : Should it be inspecting child protection anywhere? Culturally child protection inspection is incompatible with 'balance sheet' inspections that are used to good effect for educational inspections. Child protection requires a culturally different profit and loss approach, else no reliance can be placed on either the inspections of the output contained in Ofsted reports.

Meanwhile the Committee has rejected Ms Spielman as the Government's preferred candidate on the grounds outlined here : http://goo.gl/baV5vc