A head has won high-profile support after his status as a National Leader of Education was threatened over Sats results that the government has effectively admitted are not secure.

Leaders from Ofsted and the National Association of Head Teachers have come to the aid of Brian Walton, head of Brookside Academy in Street, Somerset.

The idea of stripping Mr Walton of his support role on the basis of 2016 Sats data is “ridiculous”, tweeted Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, who said he would raise the matter with the Department for Education.

Mr Walton has been threatened with losing his status as a National Leader of Education (NLE) based on the 2016 key stage 2 Sats results - which the government has said cannot be used for high-stakes school judgements.

He has been told by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) that, following a data analysis, “there were specific concerns regarding the 2016 attainment and 2016 pupil progress for reading, writing and maths being below national and local authority averages”.

Brookside school is rated as good by Ofsted and is not below the 2016 floor target. In the on-going consultation on primary assessment, the government has said that “no decisions on intervention will be made on the basis of 2016 data alone.” 

Ofsted also warned its inspectors to be cautious about basing judgements of schools on the 2016 writing results.

‘Massive pressure’

The NAHT has previously described the 2016 Sats as “unreliable and meaningless” in evidence to the Commons Education Committee’s inquiry on primary assessment, and said it was “reassured” that the government would not rely on the results alone for intervention.

A National Leader of Education (NLE) is described by the NCTL as a “strong school leader who has experience of effectively supporting schools in challenging circumstances”.

And Mr Walton describes the role in pastoral terms: “I don’t go into schools to say do this or do that - most multi-academy trusts or local authorities will have someone to do that. My role is to support that headteacher through the process and help them stand tall as a headteacher while they are under massive pressure.”

The NCTL has stressed that the decision has not yet been made. But there was outrage when Mr Walton suggested on Twitter that he was about to lose his NLE status. 

The NCTL has informed Mr Walton that the decision is “not an automatic process and all cases are discussed, in depth, by the review panel”. It adds that he can submit a narrative about the 2016 data in support of his continued designation.

“We’re all told 2016 data doesn’t matter - this is clearly evidence that it does,” said Mr Walton. “My worry is that when Ofsted walks in, we will get the same problem.”

The school has a specialist Special Educational Needs unit and four SEN children, in Year 6 last year, were counted in the key stage 2 data despite not being eligible to sit the tests. Last year, 45 per cent of pupils at Brookside met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to a national average of 53 per cent.

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