Wilshaw backs down on ‘no notice’ spat with Gove
At the Department for Education they don’t remember things quite as Michael Wilshaw does on “no-notice” inspections. In his Newsnight interview last night, Michael Wilshaw implied his passion for “no-notice” Ofsted inspection of schools was frustrated by Michael Gove.
Mr Gove was a passionate advocate of “no-notice” from opposition and into government. He gave speeches calling for it, mentioned it in interviews, and senior figures remember him pushing the agenda hard. Michael Wilshaw was an advocate of it as well.
But Michael Wilshaw in 2012 was having a hard time of it. His media encounters weren’t going terribly well and he was getting a lot of push-back from teachers.
One source suggests Sir Michael Wilshaw said in May 2012 that he was getting a lot of flak, it was the wrong moment to go with a reform so unpopular with teachers. The source recalls Sir Michael asking Michael Gove to throw a bone to the teaching profession and pull back from “no-notice.”
In contrast to his Newsnight interview, Sir Michael Wilshaw, when he was interviewed by Libby Wiener for ITV News last night, dodged eight open invitations to spell out that he had been frustrated by Michael Gove in his desire to bring in “no-notice.”
What stopped “no-notice” before, he’s asked? He replies: “…we listened to head teachers…”
What stopped the department bringing it in? Sir Michael says: “The department listened to headteachers like we did…”
I suspect the Department for Education would think that interview is closer to their memory of what happened.
Anyway, there has now been direct contact between the Department and Ofsted, and the Ofsted line appears to have changed. They’re now not repeating Sir Michael Wilshaw’s lines and saying the important thing is both sides see things the same way now.
It seems Michael Gove himself spoke to Sir Michael Wilshaw. A row in Whitehall involving Michael Gove may be drawing to a close… but there will probably be another one along soon.
Follow @garygibbonblog on Twitter