We urgently need to rebalance holding schools to account with helping them to improve. As such, peer review – and not Ofsted – should be at the heart of school improvement, says Nick Brook

The autumn term is always chock full of new reports, policies and requirements for schools – Ofsted’s new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) probably the most significant of these this term.

Last year, the National Association Head Teacher’s (NAHT) Accountability Commission concluded that the current inspection framework is overstretched, with too little resource to back everything it attempts to achieve.

Following this work, in September this year we published our principles of effective school-to-school peer review document, which proposes that peer review between schools should be the norm, not an exception, and should be at the core of school improvement.

Peer review could be the driving force of the school improvement system. Emerging evidence (NAHT, 2019) shows that schools can improve faster and more sustainably by working together.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here