Pre-appointment hearing for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills

The Committee held a pre-appointment hearing with the Government’s preferred Candidate for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, on 5 September 2023. We agree that Sir Martyn Oliver is appointable for the post. Wider reflections on the role

The Committee recognises Sir Martyn’s commitment to education and his breadth of experience both within schools and as a leader, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged children. We understand that Sir Martyn was limited on what he could say regarding his priorities prior to taking the role and we welcomed his focus on listening to the education sector, keeping children safe and providing quality education to children. However, given that safeguarding has been a key focus of this Committee, we hope that Sir Martyn will make this one of his priorities moving forward and we hope he can expand on his stated ambition to make Ofsted work holistically across different areas to support safeguarding. We look forward to Sir Martyn establishing his priorities for the role and we will monitor those areas closely to ensure that children’s lives are being improved by the raising of standards.

Sir Martyn’s CV details his extensive experience in schools in leadership roles. He has made significant contributions to the education sector, as evidenced by his Knighthood, received in 2022.13 Sir Martyn’s work with Outwood Grange Academy Trust (OGAT) has been transformative for many schools in the country. In the evidence session, we were encouraged by how Sir Martyn intends to use this experience in his role as head of OFSTED.

His supporting statement shows a passion for the role, and an aim to make OFSTED a champion for children.14 Sir Martyn expressed his strong ambition to help schools recover from the COVID-19 pandemic which had been “a disaster” for educators and pupils across the country.15 We particularly welcome Sir Martyn’s focus on disadvantaged children, reflected in his questionnaire answers and in the evidence session.16 The Committee questioned Sir Martyn over his role on the Commission for Racial and Ethnic Disparities and reports of excessive strictness within his Trust’s schools, namely a “zero-tolerance” policy, and overuse of measures like isolation rooms and exclusions noting that such policies had been shown to have a particular negative effect on the most disadvantaged pupils in schools.17 Sir Martyn explained the context of using reflection booths within Outwood Grange Academy Trust and highlighted the importance of these tools, as a time-limited measure, in providing children with a safe space to reflect on their actions, supporting teachers and safeguarding all children in the Trust. He stated that his Trust’s policies contributed to a lower level of exclusions than other schools in similar settings. 13 Appendix 4: Candidate’s CV 14 Appendix 5: Sir Martyn Oliver - Supporting Statement - HMCI OFSTED 15 Q1 16 Appendix 6: Candidate Questionnaire 17 Q4; Qq19-20 Appointment of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 11

The Committee also questioned Sir Martyn on political impartiality, curriculum breadth and the use of thematic reviews. We welcome his suggestion of an urgent thematic review into attendance but Members were concerned at an apparent lack of awareness over controversial and contentious debates on RSHE and the teaching of gender in schools. We will monitor closely how Ofsted addresses these issues.

We also questioned Sir Martyn about his personal assessment of the adequacy of the one-word judgement system. He told us that he had views on the system but he wanted to talk to “the experts who are delivering on the ground” and parents before reaching any conclusions.18

We welcome the Candidate’s intention to collaborate closely with the education sector and to engage in a substantial listening exercise following his appointment, and we hope he will pay keen attention to the wellbeing and the needs of teachers, headteachers and children’s services professionals. Sir Martyn was keen to ensure that the regulator shows empathy whilst maintaining its independence and regulatory role. He also showed an appetite for looking at the way that appeals are conducted and managed. We were pleased to hear Sir Martyn’s engagement with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) professionals and the work he had undertaken with the alternative provision sector.

The Committee notes that despite Sir Martyn’s call for “more current serving leaders”, to make Ofsted an “inspection of the system by the system”, he himself has “never served as an inspector” before, due to “being too busy going behind the schools that Ofsted has placed into special measures and picking them up to have the time to go on and do it myself”.19 We therefore hope that in his position he will be mindful of the difficulties that leaders face in balancing their responsibilities to their schools with training to be and acting as inspectors.

The Committee understands that the role of HMCI does not require experience in every facet of OFSTED’s remit, however we were reassured that Sir Martyn has taken steps to engage with children’s services and the education sector more widely in preparation for this role. This is a good start, and we will expect Sir Martyn to continue to work closely with the children’s services sector in order to sufficiently raise standards for children in social care. He expressed an interest in the regulator being able to take a more proactive role in monitoring owners of multiple care settings and this reflects concerns that the Committee has raised previously.

Sir Martyn told us that his ambition was for OFSTED to “deliver to the Government of the day without fear or favour”.20 He emphasised the importance of diagnosing the problems within the education sector in a holistic manner to ensure that “no child can slip between the gaps”.21 We welcome this ambition and look forward to his engagement with this Committee in the future to flesh out how it can be achieved. 18 Q16 19 Appendix 5: Sir Martyn Oliver - Supporting Statement - HMCI OFSTED; Oral evidence taken on 5 September 2023 20 Q22 21 Q34 12 Appointment of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills Further scrutiny of OFSTED

This Committee will be taking forward its inquiry into OFSTED’s work with schools this Autumn. The inquiry will aim to assess how well OFSTED is fulfilling its role in inspecting schools and whether and how it could be improved, to inform the work of the incoming His Majesty’s Chief Inspector. The inquiry will look at the impact of OFSTED judgements on schools and pupils, including the impact on workload and wellbeing for all members of the school community, and the usefulness of OFSTED inspections for schools and parents. The inquiry will also look at OFSTED’s complaints procedure and assess how accountable OFSTED is in its work. It will also explore the impact of the new Education Inspection Framework introduced in 2019 and we look forward to making further recommendations of the back of it and for the new HMCI’s response in due course. Appointment of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 13