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Amanda Spielman

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Amanda Spielman
Official portrait, 2017
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education
In office
1 January 2017 – 31 December 2023
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Education SecretaryJustine Greening
Damian Hinds
Gavin Williamson
Nadhim Zahawi
Michelle Donelan
James Cleverly
Kit Malthouse
Gillian Keegan
Preceded bySir Michael Wilshaw
Succeeded byMartyn Oliver
Chair of Ofqual
In office
14 July 2011 – 30 November 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Education SecretaryMichael Gove
Nicky Morgan
Justine Greening
Preceded byKathleen Tattersall (2010)[a]
Succeeded byJulius Weinberg (interim)
Chief Regulator of Ofqual
In office
Interim
1 March 2016 – 24 April 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Education SecretaryNicky Morgan
Preceded byDame Glenys Stacey
Succeeded bySally Collier
In office
14 July 2011 – 31 March 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Education SecretaryMichael Gove
Preceded byKathleen Tattersall OBE (2010)[a]
Succeeded byDame Glenys Stacey
Personal details
Born (1961-05-22) 22 May 1961 (age 63)
London
Parent(s)Sebastian Robinson (father)
Olivia Robinson (mother)
Alma materClare College, Cambridge
a. ^ Office vacant from 3 July 2010 to 13 July 2011

Amanda Mary Victoria Spielman, ACA (born 22 May 1961)[1] served as HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills from January 2017[2] to December 2023.[3][4]

She joined the senior leadership team at Ark Schools in 2005. From 2011 to 2016, Spielman was Chair of Ofqual.[5]

Early life and education

[edit]

Spielman was born in North Kensington, London. Aged five, she moved to Glasgow for her mother's lecturing job where Spielman attended Notre Dame, a state primary convent school.[6]

She was then privately educated, boarding at her mother's old school[clarification needed] in Dorset from the age of ten, and then attending St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith for sixth form.[7]

Spielman then gained a place at Clare College, Cambridge, initially studying Mathematics before switching to Law at the end of her first year. She graduated with a BA in 1982.[6][8]

Her first marriage, in 1983, ended in divorce[when?]. She married Adam Justin Spielman, managing director at Citigroup, in 1996.[9][failed verification] They live in London and have two children.[citation needed]

Financial industry career

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With KMG Thomson McLintock from 1982 to 1986 and then Kleinwort Benson from 1986 to 1992, she served as a director of Newstead Capital from 1992 until 1994[10] and of Bridgewater Business Analysis from 1994 to 1995.

She became a principal at Mercer Management Consulting in Boston, Massachusetts from 1995 to 1997, then at Nomura Principal Finance from 1997 to 2004.

Education administration

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After pursuing further studies in Comparative Education[11] at the Institute of Education, University of London, she received a Master of Arts degree in 2002.[12]

From 2005 onwards Spielman was a founding member of the management team at Ark Schools.[13][14][15] From 2011 to 2016 she chaired Ofqual, the examinations and qualifications regulator.

Ofsted appointment

[edit]

In June 2016, Spielman was selected by the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, to take over as Chief Inspector of Ofsted to replace Sir Michael Wilshaw. Following a pre-appointment hearing, Spielman's nomination was rejected by the Education Select Committee which expressed concerns about her suitability, citing her lack of teaching experience and her failure to show "passion" and lack of understanding for the "complex role".[16] Mrs Morgan, however, dismissed such objections and in her capacity as Cabinet minister wrote to Neil Carmichael, the Committee's chairman, confirming her appointment of Spielman.[17]

In 2021 it was reported she was seeking an extension to her five-year tenure due to the Covid crisis interrupting the roll out of her new inspection framework.[18] A two-year extension was confirmed in May.[19]

Policy positions

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In 2018, Spielman supported a primary school headteacher's right to set a uniform policy that did not permit hijab for pupils in Key Stage 1 (ages 4–7). The UK's National Education Union (NEU) described this as "naked racism dressed up as liberalism".[20]

In 2018, she backed a ban on mobile phones in classrooms. In the same speech, she urged strict pupil discipline, saying "there is nothing kind about letting a few pupils spoil school for everyone else".[21]

In December 2018, Spielman asserted that basic parenting duties should not be outsourced to schools and teachers: for instance, potty training was "a normal part of parenting in every other country" and it was "startling" that any British parents could allow their children to continue wearing nappies for years.[22]

In 2019, she said that students who had sexual assault allegations made against them should be free to continue attending school along with their accusers. This contradicted Ofsted's own guidance and led to criticism that her lack of understanding of basic safeguarding procedures made her unfit to be head of Ofsted.[23]

In June 2021 she declared Years 11 and 13 (ages 16 and 18) should be kept in schools despite the cancellation of exams and the substantial extra workload imposed on teachers as a result, and said Ofsted would "want to know how" schools were using contact time with Year 11.[24] This was strongly criticised by teachers, who said that most of Years 11 and 13 saw no point in staying after exams had been cancelled.[25]

Following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023, Spielman acknowledged that "a culture of fear exists over the watchdog's inspections".[26] A coroner investigating Perry's suicide found that the Ofsted inspection of her school "contributed" to her death and found the inspection "lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity" and was at times "rude and intimidating""[27] Perry's death had resulted in calls for one-word inspection judgements given by Ofsted to be scrapped, something Spielman insisted "was up the government" to change, and that such one-word judgements "weren't wrong".[28][29]

Spielman's term as head of Ofsted ended in December 2023 and she was replaced by Martyn Oliver,[3] who immediately ordered a suspension in inspections whilst training was improved.[30]

References

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  1. ^ Spielman, Amanda Mary Victoria. Who's Who. 2021. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U258079. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  2. ^ Adams, Richard; Weale, Sally (9 January 2017). "New Ofsted chief: 'I want everyone to see us as a force for improvement'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Sir Martyn Oliver confirmed as the next Ofsted chief inspector" (Press release). gov.uk. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  4. ^ Adams, Richard (2 January 2024). "Ofsted bows to pressure and halts inspections after Ruth Perry's suicide". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Amanda Spielman - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Amanda Spielman, chair, Ofqual". 7 December 2023. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  7. ^ McInerney, Laura (23 December 2014). "Who is Amanda Spielman?". Schools Week. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  8. ^ Sellgren, Katherine (7 July 2016). "MPs reject next head of Ofsted". BBC News.
  9. ^ Rocker, Simon (26 July 2018). "Ofsted Chief Amanda Spielman: we don't want to make life difficult for Charedi community". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Newstead Capital – Investment, direct lending, real estate development, private credit".
  11. ^ "Comparative Education MA". Institute of Education. 26 July 2018.
  12. ^ "SPIELMAN, Amanda Mary Victoria", Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 11 March 2017
  13. ^ "Exclusive: Amanda Spielman gets nod as next Ofsted chief inspector". TES magazine. 10 June 2016.
  14. ^ Espinoza, Javier (10 June 2016). "Amanda Spielman to become new Ofsted head". The Daily Telegraph.
  15. ^ Adams, Richard (10 June 2016). "Amanda Spielman named as next Ofsted chief inspector". The Guardian.
  16. ^ Sellgren, Katherine (7 July 2016). "Ofsted's next head, Amanda Spielman, rejected by MPs". BBC News.
  17. ^ Morgan, Nicky. "Letter to Neil Carmichael".
  18. ^ Roberts, John (11 March 2021). "Exclusive: Ofsted chief Spielman wants more time in job". TES. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Amanda Spielman to continue as Ofsted Chief Inspector". GOV.UK.
  20. ^ Adams, Richard (1 April 2018). "Hijab ban attempt is 'racism dressed up as liberalism', teachers' conference told". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Ofsted chief inspector backs ban on phones in schools". BBC News. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  22. ^ Griffiths, Sian (2 December 2018). "Ofsted boss Amanda Spielman: potty training is a parent's job". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  23. ^ Hazell, Will. "Exclusive: Shock at Ofsted chief's 'lack of knowledge' of peer abuse guidance". TES. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  24. ^ Adams, Richard (3 June 2021). "Schools should not send exam-year pupils home early, says Ofsted head". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  25. ^ Petty, Stephen (4 June 2021). "So, Ofsted, you want us to bring Year 11s back in?". TES. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Ofsted chief admits culture of fear around school inspections". BBC News. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  27. ^ "Ruth Perry: Ofsted inspection 'contributed' to head teacher's death". BBC News. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  28. ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (12 June 2023). "Scrapping one-word gradings won't solve heads' 'discomfort', says Ofsted chief". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  29. ^ "Ofsted: Single-word judgements 'aren't wrong', says Spielman | Tes". www.tes.com. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  30. ^ Adams, Richard (2 January 2024). "Ofsted bows to pressure and halts inspections after Ruth Perry's suicide". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
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