school inspection service (uk)
I’m lifting this comment by Melanie, because, well, it’s useful and it contains information I could not provide (since I don’t know these things well enough). It deals with how Steiner schools in the UK are inspected.
English Steiner schools are currently inspected by the School Inspection Service which operates, according to their website, jointly under the control of Ofsted and the Department for Education. The SIS inspects Steiner Schools, and Brethren schools, represented by the Focus Learning Trust.
http://www.culthelp.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4221
I’m not sure if the SIS has plans to inspect Montessori schools, although it appears that:
‘SIS has been nominated as the appropriate inspectorate to carry out Tier 4 inspections of Montessori, Steiner and Eurythmy FE Colleges.’
http://www.schoolinspectionservice.co.uk/ukba.php
Eurythmy FE Colleges. How many should we expect?
It’s useful to note the lay inspector in each SIS school inspection: they’re representatives, in the case of SWSF schools, of the Steiner community. They understand the special nature of the schools in a way that Ofsted perhaps found difficult. Or perhaps the Steiner community decided the previous inspections were not producing the right results. At any rate, although the SIS Steiner reports do seem to be more favourable, there are some interesting observations in the notes.
One of the directors of the state funded Hereford Steiner Academy, Martin Bradley, also appears to be a director of the School Inspection Service. In the most recent inspection carried out by the School Inspection Service — Alder Bridge Steiner School — Martin Bradley is one of the ‘supporting inspectors’. The lay inspector, representative of the Steiner community, is another well-known name in Steiner circles: Ewout van Manen. Thus, out of four inspectors, at least two have strong connections to waldorf schools themselves. I haven’t read the Alder Bridge report, just looked at a few sections. It was picked at random, as the most recent one.* It would be interesting to hear if somebody else has read SIS reports and what you think of them. Are they good enough? Is there evident bias? Do you have any interesting examples to share? Is this a satisfactory way of inspecting schools — to leave it to an organisation run by advocates for the pedagogy guiding the schools they’re inspecting?
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Addendum: SIS home is in Bruton, where Bruton Steiner School is located. It’s also the home of Steiner free school advocate Emma Craigie (I count on some of my readers to provide the background — but she’s important, and somehow related to that even more important dude, Rees-Mogg; but these things make my head spin). Bruton Steiner was recently inspected, reporting inspector is Martin Bradley. There’s also a lay inspector from the Steiner movement. Thus, two of three inspectors have ties to — are working within — the movement. Or am I missing something here?
* Sorry, my mistake. They’re listed alphabetically. I mistakenly assumed they were listed chronologically because of the page title.
Emma Craigie is the daughter of William Rees-Mogg http://thepeerage.com/p31581.htm
Emma is adviser to the SWSF and has been campaigning for the state funding of Steiner Waldorf schools for the last 14 years, Emma, along with Guy Marson are behind the Frome Steiner Academy bid.
These conflicts of interest are of great concern; not just because Steiner Schools might be unfairly favoured but also because regular schools might be marked down. In my view no directors of schools, teachers or school staff should have positions in the SiS. I imagine Steiner Schools are not the only culprits as conflicts of interest seem to be matters of little or no concern these days.
I don’t know how many times I’ve had this explained to me by patient British friends. My brain has teflon coating when it comes to Craigie, Rees-Mogg and the connections between them and the Steiner movement.
Was it Craigie who wrote about chocolate cakes with Hitler?
Nick — true. And I doubt the wisdom of letting people inside the steiner movement inspect steiner schools. The connections between the schools are too tight, even if Bradley doesn’t carry out the inspections of his own School, Hereford. Teachers move around, they know each other, they all have a common cause, want the same thing… et c. Worse even when you see it’s not just the lay inspector. But I don’t see the use of the lay inspector either — if there are questions (pertaining to Steiner school specifics… but, I mean, really, the entire SiS is doing basically just Steiner schools, they should know what they need already?!) that need to be answered, why can’t the teachers and the principal (if there is one) answer these questions?
yes, Emma Craigie wrote Chocolate Cake with Hitler.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/7568799/Last-days-of-Hitlers-favourite-little-girl.html
So Dr Martin Harry Bradley is
1. an inspector for the School Inspection Service
2. director of the School Inspection Service
3. director of the Hereford Steiner Academy
4. sponsor governor of the Hereford Steiner Academy
The plot tightens… But, really, that’s an… interesting list.
There’s a letter from Ofsted to SIS, which I’ve been sent. I’m not sure of its value but in it we learn that headteachers (in the schools inspected) are happy with the inspections and the inspectors whom they feel understand the nature of the schools (no doubt!) and they praise the inspectors’ proffessionalism. There’s also a statement about SIS’s independence from SWSF and the Focus organisation (the bretheren schools). In addition to this, I’ve screen-shot a page from this document; it explains how the reporting inspector and the lay inspector have ties to the movement whose schools they’re supposed to inspect. You can look at it here:
http://zooey.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/ofsted_sis.png
Thanks Alicia, I find the whole situation bizarre, more exemptions, more indulgences. This is the 2011 quality inspection report for the SIS, written by Miriam Rosen, Chief Inspector of Ofsted:
”The School Inspection Service is committed to providing a high quality inspection
service that is able to provide independent and objective monitoring of colleges’
‘The SIS maintains its independence from the Focus learning Trust, the Steiner Waldorf Fellowship and their member schools’
‘Inspectors who work for the School Inspection Service are expected to abide by the
Code of Conduct. This has high expectations of how inspectors will conduct
themselves. They are expected to: evaluate objectively, display impartiality, and have no previous connections, either with the college or with individuals at the college, which could
undermine their objectivity’
Yet in the same letter we’re told:
‘To ensure the integrity and objectivity of an inspection, all lay inspectors are required to formally declare any connection they may have or have had with particular schools’.
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/annual-report-letter-quality-of-inspections-and-reports-school-inspection-service-sis
Hereford Steiner Academy is a member of and is sponsored by the SWSF but is inspected by OFSTED, the latest inspection from June 2011 rates the school satisfactory in all areas
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/files/1706291/urn/135672.html
is this how Dr Martin Bradley and his School Inspection Service remain objective and independent?
and how can the movement justify a state funded Steiner Academy in Frome when their flagship school, which cost £10 million pound in build work alone was rated satisfactory.
They’re Steiner schools. I guess, in this context, satisfactory is a splendid rating.
It would be interesting to know if the SIS reports about Steiner schools are more positive than the Ofsted report about Hereford, although one school is… very few… to few to draw conclusions. As Frome is a state-funded school, does that mean it will be inspected by Ofsted rather than SIS?
Given that Hereford is the ‘model’ steiner school in the process to achieve state-funding for many more steiner schools, I would guess it is a school performing better than any other steiner school. It is also an academy — aren’t they supposed to be role models for the entire educational system? We should be seeing better results, shouldn’t we? And if Hereford is only satisfactory — I haven’t read these reports myself — then the other steiner schools, reasonably, logically, ought to score worse.
(But now my brain is truly switching off. Good night!)
For ‘objectivity’ read ‘any old claptrap that does not require evidence made-up on the spot non-material inspired-by-steiner subjective bullshit’….
1. From the report: “Satisfactory lessons tend to be less well planned, with lengthy exposition by the teacher, and with all pupils working at the same pace on the same task. Much of the time is spent listening to the teacher with few opportunities for pupils to respond independently or for teaching assistants to support specific pupils. This slows the pace of learning and too often leads to pupils engaging in low-level disruption. ”
2. Reporting Inspector is Her Majesty’s Inspector, Sue Frater. Have I understood Nick correctly if I think that at least one of her bosses is affiliated with Steiner schools? Is she or the other HMI involved? I would guess not. But it would only be natural if the third “additional investigator” was from the movement.
3. So, even in circumstances which are positive for inspections of Steiner education, the quality of the UK flagship school is rated well below other schools. I have checked the statistics carefully. Isn’t that a bit surprising, considering what advocates for Steiner education says about their pedagogy and about the sorry state of modern mainstream education?
‘all pupils working at the same pace on the same task.’
So much for all the bragging about offering an individual approach, letting every student develop at their own pace. Individual, my arse.
Totally agree with the conclusions from the report re that stuff.
‘Isn’t that a bit surprising, considering what advocates for Steiner education says about their pedagogy and about the sorry state of modern mainstream education?’
And, further, considering the privileged circumstances the steiner students come from. Parents, who have made active choices that are supposed to be the BEST choices!
Hello Ulf, from my understanding all independent Steiner Waldorf Schools used to be inspected by OFSTED. The schools were often marked down and the movement complained saying the inspectors didn’t understand the unique pedagogy. I’m confident the inspectors understood the schools very well, just that they didn’t have a name for it and like all outsiders were not informed about Anthroposophy.
The Steiner Waldorf movement lobbied hard resulting in OFSTED farming out Independent Steiner Waldorf School inspections to the School Inspection Service (SIS) in 2009 which as Thetis mentioned earlier were already inspecting Exclusive Brethren Schools. The difference we see now is that in order for the school to be understood on their terms there appears to be a conflict of interest, with at least one of the directors of the SIS having numerous connections to the Steiner Waldorf movement. We also see that all lay inspectors involved in Steiner school inspections also have numerous connections to the Steiner movement either having held positions as trustees, administrators or teachers. In other words, followers of Steiner.
As you can imagine now the SIS are carrying out inspections, reports are much more positive, with some Steiner Waldorf schools being awarded outstanding. Perhaps the government need to understand in the most crudest sense that this is rather like asking Tom Cruise and John Travolta to inspect Scientology schools. There are no ‘independent’ inspectors with a deep understanding of Steiner, if there were they would run a mile.
http://www.schoolinspectionservice.co.uk/school_reports.php
At present, Hereford Steiner Academy is the only state funded Steiner Waldorf school. I believe that as part of Hereford’s contract there is a stipulation that the school be inspected by OFSTED, though it is not only Sue Frater who has rated Hereford satisfactory, back in November 2009 inspector Ceri Morgan was part of a monitoring inspection, she voiced her concerns stating the academy was vulnerable to failure in a forthcoming inspection by not meeting fully the requirements of the curriculum in the early years. Ms Morgan also went on to say that in some aspects of literacy and numeracy there was a deliberately delay that is accelerated in later years. Ms Morgan also spoke of the pupils awareness of the fragile relationship the academy has with the local community. In other words Ceri Morgan did her homework. This displeased the Hereford Steiner Academy, in their 2010 end of year governors report it states on p 14:
‘HMI On the 19th and 20th November, a two-day monitoring visit was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI). The Letter following the visit was received in January and it is published on Ofsted’s web-site. Overall, the Academy is judged to have made satisfactory progress during its first year of activity. The Academy made a formal complaint regarding the visit and the Letter from Ofsted. After a 7 month period of dialogue and delay a revised Letter was posted on the Ofsted web-site. The Academy has a continuing dialogue with the Department concerning the arrangements for inspecting a publicly-funded Steiner school.’
http://www.steineracademyhereford.eu/index.php/component/remository/Public-Downloads/Report-of-the-Governors-for-the-Year-ended-31-August-2010/
http://bit.ly/wTXqvL
[Edit: shortened last link and took care of line breaks. /a]
Thanks for clarifying this, Lovelyhorse!
Yes, thanks very much, Lovelyhorse!