Leadership versus Management in the eyes of Ofsted

[calmb4storm]

My DC's school was recently inspected, and we were invited to give our opinions of the school via ParentView. One of the 12 statements it invites you to agree/disagree with is "This school is well led and managed". That has got me thinking.....

There's a general perception among parents at the school that the Head (and less visibly the Governing Body) is a manager rather than a leader. The school is well organised. Things run like like clockwork. The children are calm and well behaved. Results are good. All that counts for a lot, and so I can "strongly agree" that the school is well managed.

However, I would "disagree" that it is well led. I (and others) think the leadership is uninspiring. New ideas don't flourish. Good teachers leave because (anecdotally) they feel frustrated by the lack of innovation. The impression is that it's a school that will always be good and never outstanding.

Does anyone know if Ofsted unhooks the two concepts when they do their inspections? I suppose its reasonable to lump them together in the blunt instrument of a parental survey, but do they read between the lines of the results? The l&m question wasn't quite so positively responded to as some of the other questions, so perhaps that will get their cogs whirring.

I guess I'll have to wait for the report for the real answer, but I'm interested in your thoughts and experiences in the meantime.

[calmb4storm]

Maybe more of a Sunday kind of question?