There has been a lot of comment on inspection this week.
I was very pleased to hear the head of Ofsted, former head teacher
Sir Michael Wilshaw, finally agree to multi-agency child protection inspection.
I expect he has come under pressure to change his mind, with virtually
everybody else thinking it is a good idea. Why we have to wait for them until
2015 is beyond me!
Then there was what seemed to me an interesting and useful
suggestion from Andrew Webb, the President of the Association of Directors of
Children’s Services. Rather than giving one word, headline-grabbing judgements,
Webb suggested that Ofsted inspections of child protection should give ‘a
narrative verdict’. This would, he argued, reflect the complexity of the
safeguarding system.
I think that idea is simple and sensible – so it probably
will never be put into practice!!
