Greening wants departure from ‘punitive intervention’ in struggling schools

The government needs to help schools feel there is not “a purely punitive intervention approach” to helping them improve, the education secretary has said.

The DfE must drive a “move away from a perception of a purely punitive intervention approach” that schools had about the government and Ofsted, she added.

In a speech at a Sutton Trust event about social mobility this morning, Greening said her department needed to ensure there was “a culture of the right support”.

Instead, a strict accountability system was putting teachers off working in the toughest schools.

“I do think we need to recognise that in having a strong accountability system that that does come with some issues we need to think carefully about.

“We have a situation where the best teachers think twice in going to the schools where we most need to go.”

The two “crucial” objectives of transparency and school improvement through good teachers needed to “marry up” better, particularly in the regions which had the most struggling schools, she said.