Teachers union rejects claim schools are ‘encouraging children to find problems’

A teachers union has hit back after a former Ofsted boss said schools should not act as therapeutic institutions for children.

Baroness Amanda Spielman claimed children are being encouraged to find problems when they should be focused on normal education.

But education union NASUWT said teachers have no choice but to help children through their mental health problems after years of austerity.

Conservative peer Lady Spielman, who ran Ofsted from 2017 to 2023, told the Sunday Times: “If schools have reconceived themselves as therapeutic institutions and are looking for things to be wrong with the child, they’ll probably find some.

“And we’ll stay in this sort of negative spiral of unintentionally encouraging children to find things to be unhappy about.

“Adolescence is a period of massive psychological adjustment with lumps and bumps, but you have to experience the lumps and bumps to be a resilient adult,” she added.

Matt Wrack, the union’s general secretary, said therapeutic approaches will be essential to comply with Ofsted’s proposed new school inspections.

He told the PA news agency: “The commitment of schools and of teachers to high quality education has never waned. Long years of austerity mean they are now expected to be social workers, food banks and therapists.

“Teachers support their pupils with pride but they are at breaking point. Criticism such as this does not help.

“Since Ofsted now proposes to inspect schools on the basis of inclusion, therapeutic approaches are essential.

“Frankly, therapeutic approaches have been necessary – and pioneered – by schools for a long time.

“No matter what governments throw at teachers, they come through for pupils, often paying the price at the cost of their own time, resources and mental health.

“Schools face a litany of crises: lack of funding, families struggling through poverty, the long shadow of the Covid pandemic, the black hole in Send provision, and dwindling support from external services.

“The only way schools have been able to address pupils’ subsequent mental health problems and growing levels of absenteeism is to prioritise inclusion, the core of which is a therapeutic approach to education.”

Lady Spielman was Ofsted chief inspector when headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life in 2023 after a report downgraded her primary school from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.

An inquest into the headteacher’s death found the inspection was a contributory factor.

Ofsted’s response to the tragedy was subsequently criticised as “defensive and complacent” by an independent review.

Professor Julia Waters, Ms Perry’s sister, said the ex-head of Ofsted being “rewarded” with a peerage was “a disgrace and an insult” to her sibling’s memory.