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We need more ‘trust and encouragement’ from Ofsted chief, say school leaders

Teachers should get more “trust and encouragement” from Ofsted’s chief inspector who should deliver more “positive messaging”, school leaders have claimed.

Speaking to press ahead of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) annual conference in Birmingham today, the union’s interim general secretary Malcolm Trobe said Sir Michael Wilshaw offered the profession “a little too much stick and not enough carrot”.

Sir Michael, who is in his final year in the job, will address the conference this afternoon, and Mr Trobe said he hoped to see a less negative stance.

He said: “I think we would have liked to have seen a little bit more positive messaging from him. A lot of movement forward is a mixture of carrot and stick, and there’s probably been a little bit too much stick and not enough carrot, i.e. trust and encouragement.

“And we hope we’ll get some trust and encouragement today.”

But Mr Trobe and ASCL president Allan Foulds both accepted that inspections by Ofsted had improved under Sir Michael’s five-year tenure, and welcomed some of his recent comments.

Mr Foulds added: “There’s a lot Sir Michael has been saying recently with which we would agree, and there has been a very clear recognition of the concerns we share about teacher supply and the leadership pipeline.”

Sir Michael will address the conference at 3.15pm today. Follow Schools Week Live on twitter for updates.

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