An Ofsted Inspector Calls

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A Response to the Times Education Commission Report - Conservative Friends of Education OPINION PIECE: Why has The Times Education Commission Report not been front-page news? Why has it taken parliament so long to discuss this?

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Here's what to expect from my new and proven to work courses! Please watch and enjoy. All courses are based on real experience and offer practical advice and solutions.

Preparing for Ofsted - for what are inspectors really looking? How to confidently prepare.

Combatting s*xual harassment in schools and colleges

"From good to great" - practical school improvement

Introducing metacognition - a basic tool to improve teaching and learning

Improving middle leadership

Great leadership - training for new and aspiring leaders

Please contact me to discuss bespoke packages.

'Phone: 07951 136 791
Email: [email protected]
Website: timclarkeducational.co.uk

Tim has taught at a wide variety of schools: town, rural, inner city; single s*x and co-ed; selective grammar and comprehensive; LA and academy, and for the purposes of these particular courses, has been an incredibly successful Head for eighteen years. Most recently, Tim took over an out of control school in Hackney in 2013 which suffered from appalling pupil behaviour, falling rolls and incredibly low staff morale – 40% of the staff had left the Academy in the previous three years. He left it in 2019 having “transformed” it (Ofsted) into an oversubscribed school of choice where pupil behaviour was a strength, GCSE results were consistently above national average and staff morale and retention were both extremely high. In his first headship (2002 – 2013), Tim led a “good” grammar school to be “outstanding” in all areas, and the school remains one of the highest performing schools in Lincolnshire; it has also recently had its “outstanding” designation reconfirmed under the new Ofsted Framework.
In February 2020, Tim co-authored an influential report for a leading national think tank which seriously challenged some of the key issues arising out of the 2019 Framework. During his time as a Head, Tim gained an impressive wealth of experience. This includes being seconded by the Youth Sports Trust to investigate the impact of the 2000 Sydney Olympics on Australian schools. For two years he chaired the Hackney Behaviour and Attendance Committee and was the secondary representative on a key enquiry into the exclusion of Afro-Caribbean boys. He ran a number training courses for Heads from Poland (through the Erasmus Project), Spain and annually for groups of Norwegian Heads. He has been a governor at several schools, including two PRU’s, and was a member of the IMB (Independent Monitoring Board) of a prison. In 2016 Tim was granted the Freedom of the City of London.

CPD that actually works! Over the next two terms, I am offering the following courses which can be adapted to suit various audiences - SLT, middle leaders, whole staff, governors, sp...

Delighted to write this piece for Digital Tories

Schools must provide safe tech learning Youngsters just need to feel comfortable with technology. Schools have a key role to play by providing safe and dynamic learning environments.

“This review shocked me. So, said Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, on the recent publication of Ofsted’s, “Review of S*xual Abuse in Schools and Colleges” (June 2021). Worse still, this Report comes only a couple of weeks after a NASUWT/Radio 4 questionnaire, in which almost one third of teachers reported having witnessed peer on peer s*xual abuse and almost one in ten saw it on a weekly basis.

Certainly, the Ofsted Reports’ findings are shocking. Over 90% of girls and over 70% of boys stated that s*xual name calling was common, whilst 88% of girls and 49% of boys said that sending explicit videos and pictures (so called “nudes” and “dick pics”) was also commonplace. Perhaps most worrying, is that 80% of girls and 40% of boys felt under pressure to provide such images themselves. Indeed, some children maintained that s*xual harassment is so commonplace ins schools that they see little point in reporting it. They also feel that RSE (Relationships and S*x Education, compulsory in all secondary schools since 2020) offers too little too late. Teachers are no more positive, feeling ill-equipped and ill at ease delivering the subject.

I am not sure if any comfort can be gleaned from the fact that only about one quarter of perpetrators of s*xual abuse are under 18, i.e. could be in school, and only 1.3% of permanent exclusions are for s*xual misconduct. Worryingly, however, the latter could of course mean that most harassment goes under the radar, not least as many pupils are unwilling to report it for a whole host of reasons – fear, embarrassment, guilt etc. The Report, quite rightly, therefore, advises schools to “assume” s*xual harassment goes on, even without specific concrete evidence. The statutory guidance, “Keeping Children Safe in Education”, makes it clear that it is a legal duty of every member of staff to try and keep all children safe.

So, what is to be done?

Firstly, staff and pupils need to fully understand precisely what is, s*xual harassment. The Report, sensibly, identifies a continuum of issues which start with the one-off inappropriate comment, through to incidents which are deemed problematic, abusive or coercive, through to full s*xual violence. Clearly, there is an escalation in seriousness from the intended “joke” through to s*xting, up-skirting to coercion.

The Department for Education guidance on s*xual violence and harassment (May 2018) encourages staff not to dismiss s*xual comments as “banter”, “just having a laugh” or “boys being boys”, but the one-off inappropriate comment is obviously very different from a coercive, physical act and the two must be dealt with proportionately and appropriately.

The DfE guidance provides a good definition of s*xual harassment: unwanted s*xual conduct which, “violates a child’s dignity” and makes a child feel, “intimidated, degraded or humiliated”. Knowledge and understanding clearly make a good starting point.

Secondly, we need to urgently and significantly improve the delivery of RSE lessons, for which staff need proper training. Until the latter happens, RSE will remain largely ineffective and both unpopular and undervalued by pupils and staff.

RSE lessons must include showing clearly what is acceptable or unacceptable in a friendship and relationship, and must also explain the law, which is there primarily to protect young people. Whilst many youngsters have a vague notion of the concept of “consent”, very few realise that the sending of an indecent image of a person under 18, even of themselves, is illegal, and to send one of another person without their consent could lead to the perpetrator being placed on the S*x Offenders Register.

Next, where incidents do occur, schools must be prepared to use disciplinary sanctions. Punishing something sends out a clear message that the behaviour is wrong, as well as proving publicly that a school will protect its pupils. The fact that much “s*xting” happens outside of school should not, if it impacts on pupils in the school, prevent disciplinary action being taken. The statutory guidance on exclusions confirms that, “actions outside of school can be considered grounds for exclusion”, whilst the guidance also reminds Heads that, “they must have regard for the interests of other pupils [and adults] at the school”.

Finally, and most difficult to achieve, we must create a school environment in which pupils feel safe and comfortable enough to report and discuss matters of harassment, but also, to create an environment where such incidents are as least likely to occur as possible. We must teach respect for all, and that any actions which cause upset, humiliation or intimidation are bullying, are wrong and will not be tolerated. S*xual bullying is totally unacceptable, as is racial or homophobic bullying, but so too is bullying because children are big or small, rich or poor, clever or not clever, because they are weak, different or because of the colour of their hair.

Respect for all is the answer and must be the goal.

Tim is currently running a course through Dragonfly Training on S*xual Harassment in Schools. If you are interested in bringing this course to your school please get in touch with us.

https://youtu.be/2_HrbBYcHjE

S*xual Abuse in Schools - A solution Tim Clark's recommendations and analysis - Review of s*xual abuse in schools and colleges Ofsted 10 June 2021Report comes only a couple of weeks after an NAS...

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Levelling up - A Post Covid Recovery Plan for All 5 Realistic Suggestions for a Post Covid Recovery PlanGreater use of flipped learning may enable teachers to speed up delivery of the curriculum, using homew...

https://youtu.be/G4VZE6rJKNY

Should we vaccinate teachers?

Let's hear it for the teachers - March 8th. Here's my suggestion on how to avoid further school closure...Let me know what you think... Released 24th February 2021

The dominant role of the dead white male in the curriculum, and the calls by some to “decolonise” and “ethno-balance” the curriculum, is probably the most sensitive and controversial contemporary topic in English education. It raises very genuine passions on both sides but it is a topic that needs to be discussed, and discussed calmly, openly and dispassionately.
I believe the desire to move away from a British-centred curriculum, despite being well intentioned, is misguided, counterproductive and would be especially damaging for two groups of children – those from ethnic minority backgrounds and those from deprived backgrounds.

Dead, White and Essential - The Case for a British Centric Curriculum The dominant role of the dead white male in the curriculum, and the calls by some to “decolonise” and “ethno-balance” the curriculum, is probably the most se...

Welcome to my new channel where I shall address many of the issues teachers face, and try to help!

I taught for 32 years and was a Head for 18 years.

In 2020 I co-authored a report on the most recent Ofsted Framework for the leading thinktank, Policy Exchange.

Please subscribe for updates as I comment on the topical issues we all face.

I offer courses and staff/governor training on school improvement (“From average or good to great”), leadership (what makes leadership really effective?) and inspection preparation. Since Ofsted is still maintaining that it intends to restart the inspection programme this year, some schools will face a full inspection in only seven or eight school-weeks; the need for preparation, specifically in line with the new Framework is, therefore, crucial.

Do get in touch: I shall be only too happy to help.