{"id":246138,"date":"2026-05-07T23:00:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=246138"},"modified":"2026-05-07T23:07:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:07:35","slug":"from-the-frontline-ofsted-funding-and-industrial-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/from-the-frontline-ofsted-funding-and-industrial-action\/","title":{"rendered":"From the frontline: Ofsted, funding and industrial action"},"content":{"rendered":"

School leaders discussed Ofsted, funding and potential industrial action when they gathered in Belfast last weekend for the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Schools Week<\/em> deputy editor Samantha Booth reports from the conference floor\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Headteachers have been left \u201cbroken\u201d by the new Ofsted framework, the conference was told, as delegates voted to explore industrial action.<\/p>\n

A four-part motion included calls for the association (NAHT) to \u201ccollect and publish evidence\u201d from members on the \u201cworsening impact\u201d of the new inspection framework.<\/p>\n

It also demanded the union \u201cexplore legal, industrial and campaigning strategies to challenge the framework and promote an alternative approach that safeguards leaders and staff\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Credit:
Amy Lassman. Credit: Sarah Turton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amy Lassman, the head of Nelson Mandela Primary in Birmingham, said \u201cmaintaining\u201d the threat of industrial action was not about rushing to strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about power, it\u2019s about leverage, it\u2019s about being taken seriously by those who shape the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several heads spoke about their experiences under the new framework.<\/p>\n

Amanda Hulme, the head of Claypool Primary in Bolton, read from a letter she had recently sent to Sir Martyn Oliver, the chief inspector.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my fifth inspection as a headteacher, it was by some distance the most stressful experience of my career and had a significant adverse impact on my health in the period leading up to the inspection and after the inspection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were one bullet point away from achieving a strong standard for attendance and behaviour and inclusion, and similarly only one sentence within a bullet point from achieving a strong standard for personal development and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to understand how such fine margins can offer parents a meaningful or coherent understanding of a school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anne Billington,\u00a0the head of The Beacon C of E Primary in Devon, said she was left \u201cbroken\u201d after an Ofsted inspection in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really hope that what we experienced is not what you will experience, and I hope that was not typical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dave Woods, the president of the NAHT, said its national executive \u201cvery strongly\u201d supported the motion, adding: \u201cOur work and campaigning on inspection reform is far from over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industrial action vote looms\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Members also voted for the union to carry out an indicative ballot for industrial action \u201cin defence of pay\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lassman said a \u201clong, grinding erosion of pay\u201d had left the profession \u201cundervalued, overstretched and struggling to recruit and retain the staff our schools so desperately need\u201d.<\/p>\n

The vote follows ministers\u2019 suggestion of a 6.5 per cent pay rise over the next three years, which, if broken down yearly, would be well below current inflation.<\/p>\n

The DfE is yet to release the recommendation of the School Teachers\u2019 Review Body (STRB) and its own final decision on pay.<\/p>\n

The motion, passed unanimously, called on the union to oppose any three-year deal that was below inflation, and to conduct the ballot.<\/p>\n

It also committed the union to using the results to \u201cinform next steps, including the potential escalation to a statutory industrial action ballot\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lassman said it sent a strong message \u201cthat the NAHT will not sleepwalk into another cut\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt we want better pay we must be prepared to fight for it,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sea of flags\u2019 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

A Bristol headteacher walked a parent home after she was followed by a group waving St George\u2019s flags.<\/p>\n

Matthew Cave, the head of Four Acres Academy in Bristol, said: \u201cOur families have to walk through a sea of flags on every lamp post that become a symbol of us vs them \u2013 and that tension is walking right into our playground.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found myself with a parent, new to the country, who brought her two-year-old in. She had been followed into the school by a group waving St George\u2019s crosses behind her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cave walked the woman home \u201carmed with nothing but my teacher stare\u201d. He ended up \u201cwith a complaint from them about me being intimidating\u201d.<\/p>\n

A motion called for the NAHT to press the government to ensure all school communities have the resources to create safe, inclusive environments and are protected from attacks on refugees and asylum seekers.<\/p>\n

Cave said leaders needed the union to \u201cadvocate for the resources and training to give us courage to speak up, to provide a united front and ensure our schools remain neutral ground\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nazma Jassat, the head of Charnwood Primary in Leicester, said her personal experience as an immigrant from a war-torn region meant she knew \u201chow powerful stability can be\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen everything else feels uncertain, school routines, familiar faces and a sense of belonging matter more than we sometimes realise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen compassion is absent in wider public conversations, schools increasingly become the place where reassurance, dignity and truth must be actively upheld.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant heads are\u00a0\u2018glue in school system’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Assistant headteachers are \u201cshock absorbers\u201d of schools, the conference was told, following suggestions by the government<\/a> that their numbers could be cut to help costs.<\/p>\n

In evidence to the STRB, the DfE said \u201cseveral common themes\u201d had emerged from those who saved money, including \u201creconsidering the composition of leadership teams\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a 45 per cent increase in assistant headteacher positions since 2011-12, indicating some room to drive better value from spending,\u201d the government highlighted.<\/p>\n

But James Hawkins, a deputy head in Birmingham, said assistant heads were \u201cnot an operational extra, they are shock absorbers for the system\u201d.<\/p>\n

They were the \u201cglue that holds together behaviour, attendance and pastoral systems\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Credit:
James Hawkins. Credit: Sarah Turton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mel Collins, the deputy head of Moat House Primary School in Coventry, said the role of an assistant head had grown \u201cbecause the demands on schools have grown\u201d.<\/p>\n

A NAHT survey last year found just one in five school leaders aspired to headship.<\/p>\n

Hawkins added: \u201cThis is not a pipeline brimming with surplus leadership, it is a recruitment warning light flashing red.<\/p>\n

\u201cStripping away assistant headteacher capacity will not improve value for money, it will further accelerate burnout and turnover.\u201d<\/p>\n

INSET day proposal rejected<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A motion calling for two more INSET days to support schools in implementing SEND and curriculum reforms was rejected.<\/p>\n

Lynn Clark, the head of Marston Green Junior School in Solihull, said there was \u201csilence on how school leaders in this room and beyond will deliver these changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a quiet assumption that schools will simply absorb this change. This is not leadership, it is denial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has said it will provide funding for the reform. It must provide time.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo additional days is not radical, not unreasonable, because without time, SEND becomes procedural, curriculum reform rushed, staff morale eroded and leaders burnout and they leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark said academies could plan additional INSET days to the mandatory five when reform demanded it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaintained schools must calculate and aggregate hours to justify any request for even one additional INSET day.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Clem Coady, the head of Stoneraise School in Cumbria, said members were \u201creally struggling\u201d with the motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get that workload is continually being handed on to our schools and the notion that \u2018schools will just sort this, it\u2019ll be OK\u2019.<\/p>\n

But the motion would require the union\u2019s president and general secretary \u201cto front the national media and argue with fighting for change for a better education by removing education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are yet to be convinced this is the right discourse and [are] concerned that this argument will not be supported by our parents nor our communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt risks us as a profession losing a lot of political capital we\u2019ve gained over recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We bring you the key concerns raised by headteachers at NAHT’s annual conference<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311127,"featured_media":246065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[367],"post-theme":[2398],"class_list":["post-246138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-naht","post-theme-schools"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t