I would have punched ‘rude’ school inspectors, says Gillian Keegan

Gillian Keegan told head teachers she believed educators should not have to face disrespect from inspectors – JUSTIN NG/AVALON

Gillian Keegan has said she would have punched rude Ofsted inspectors who visited a school in her constituency if she had been a teacher there.

The Education Secretary told a conference of head teachers on Friday that she had spoken to teachers at the school in Chichester, Sussex, after it had been inspected.

“They told me how their Ofsted experience had gone and I was shocked,” she told the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conference in Lliverpool.

“I was actually shocked. I thought, God, if I had met these people, I would probably have punched them. They were really rude.

“I mean you expect people to be rude to you when you’re a politician, you kind of sign up for that. But when you are trying to run a school and educate children and change lives, you don’t expect somebody to come in and not be respectful.”

Responding to her comments, Sir Martyn Oliver, the chief inspector of Ofsted, called for a “calming” of tensions.

Chief inspector wants ‘fresh start’

He said: “I am much more interested in a fresh start and calming down tensions. That’s in far better interests for the children and the professionals in the country going forward.

“I think people should act with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect on both sides.”

Sir Martyn has been seeking to reset the relationship between Ofsted and teachers after the death of Ruth Perry, a primary school head who took her own life last year after receiving a poor Ofsted rating.

A Berkshire coroner found in December that an Ofsted inspection of Caversham Primary School in Reading in November 2022 contributed to Ms Perry’s suicide.

A photograph of Ruth Perry on the fence at another Berkshire school, where the head planned to refuse Ofsted entry after Ms Perry’s death – ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA WIRE

Heidi Connor said the inspection was at times “rude and intimidating” and that this “likely had an effect on Ruth’s ability to deal fully with the inspection process”.

Mrs Keegan sought to charm school leaders on Friday, a year after she shunned their last conference amid threats of teacher strikes over pay.

She credited head teachers for rising standards in schools and pitched herself as “more a businesswoman than a politician”, referring to her 30-year career in business, starting as an apprentice at a car factory in Liverpool.

She told the head teachers: “The most important thing is the people in your organisation, they are the only thing that really matters, getting good people and retaining good professionals, continuing developing good people, listening and respecting good people.”

Union says minister’s comment ‘not becoming’

A union leader criticised Mrs Keegan over her “punching” comment following the speech on Friday.

Mike Short, head of education at Unison, said: “Clearly there’s much that can and should be improved in the way Ofsted inspections are carried out.

“But to suggest punching people is an appropriate reaction is not becoming of a government minister.”

At the conference, Sir Martyn also addressed the school leaders and told them Ofsted “can do more to recognise the challenging circumstances you face”.

The Ofsted chief added that it “isn’t fair” to expect teachers to combine their roles with “being a social worker, or an educational psychologist”.

On Friday, Ofsted launched a 12-week “big listen” consultation, asking parents, carers and teachers about their views of the inspectorate.

However, Prof Julia Waters, Ms Perry’s sister, warned: “Sir Martyn will need to move from a big listen to a big change pretty quickly, or this exercise will be a big waste of time.”

Prof Waters is campaigning for “high-stakes” one-word Ofsted judgments to be scrapped because of the pressure they create for school leaders.

Call to speed up sex education guidance

Meanwhile, Geoff Barton, the ASCL general secretary, called on the Department for Education to release its consultation on new relationships and sex education guidance.

Rishi Sunak brought forward a review of sex education in schools in March last year after The Telegraph revealed evidence of widespread teaching of radical gender ideology in classrooms.

However, the proposed new framework, which is expected to tell schools they must treat gender identity as a contested belief, has yet to be published.

Mr Barton said the sex education guidance for schools “should have been done by Christmas, so we are still waiting”.

He added: “It needs to be done to take away some of those contentious issues about at what age do you teach particular issues to young people.

“We would want to have enough flexibility that you can customise that to the young people in their context in front of you. But that guidance, frankly, could they get on with it?”

The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.

%n

Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: Your essential guide to the day’s agenda from The Telegraph – direct to your inbox seven days a week.