I seriously considered leaving education today. And if I had a viable exit strategy I might have taken it further.

Did I have a bad lesson? Was a pupil abusive, violent or threatening towards me? Not at all. I had the pleasure of my delightful Y7s, made a breakthrough with my Y8s, managed some productive revision and even had a pleasant time on a cover lesson.

What made me think about leaving was the agenda for Monday’s full staff meeting. Item 1? OFSTED. And pinned up next to it, the minutes of a recent Heads of Faculty meeting.

• In recent years we’ve been told our lessons have to be pacey.
• They have to help the students demonstrate independent learning.
• We have to give the students time to explore concepts and ideas.
• We have to demonstrate progress. From every student. Every 15 minutes.
• We have to make sure we build literacy…