Christine Flack, New Ofsted school grading, Emma Barnett

Nov 10, 2025

Guest

Tom Middlehurst

Christine Flack, mother of the late Caroline Flack, reveals her five-year investigation into her daughter's tragic death, highlighting police and press failures. Louise Penny, celebrated crime novelist, discusses her new book, The Black Wolf, sharing inspiration from her late husband and her experiences with palliative care. Emma Barnett shares her journey through perimenopause while launching her podcast, aiming to foster open conversations. Tom Middlehurst voices concerns about Ofsted's new inspection framework and its stressful implications for school leaders.

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INSIGHT

Ofsted's Grading Trade-Off

Ofsted's new framework replaces single-word judgments with multiple graded categories across school areas.
Unions warn the change may increase pressure on leaders and worsen retention despite parental demand for clarity.

ADVICE

Consider Narrative Reports

Use narrative-style reports to describe what it's like to be a child at a school rather than rely on multiple colour grades.
Focus on standards and targeted support where schools fail, not punitive multi-area grading.

INSIGHT

Grades Can Harm School Leadership

Multiple graded areas can create a ‘Nando’s menu’ of judgments that amplify accountability stress on leaders.
High-stakes, visible grades risk worsening staff shortages and leadership departures.

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Caroline Flack was a Bafta-winning TV presenter, host of shows including Love Island and The X Factor. In February of 2020, she took her own life ahead of a court case in which she was charged with the assault of her then boyfriend, after weeks of press scrutiny. Her mother Christine Flack tells Clare McDonnell about spending the past five years uncovering documents from the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to try to find out more about the events around Caroline’s death and she also questions the role of the press. That journey is documented in a two-part documentary out on Disney+ called Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth.

A new schools inspection system begins in England today. Overall judgements, such as 'good' or 'requires improvement,' have been scrapped and schools will now be given one of five grades in several different categories. The changes were prompted by the death of the head teacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life in January 2023 whilst waiting for the publication of an Ofsted report she knew would grade her school as "inadequate." Clare speaks to the BBC Education Reporter Vanessa Clarke and Tom Middlehurst, Deputy Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders.

Louise Penny is the multi award-winning Canadian crime novelist. Her books have sold over 18 million copies worldwide and this year marks the 20th anniversary of her hugely popular Inspector Gamache series. Her latest novel is called The Black Wolf and follows on from her previous one The Grey Wolf. Gamache has foiled a plot to poison Montreal’s drinking water, but has discovered that this is simply phase one of a dark master plan and he needs to take on not only an organised crime syndicate, but also delve into the murky depths of government and power to discover who the black wolf is.

There is a brand new podcast out from a familiar voice - Emma Barnett: Ready to Talk, in which Emma invites listeners into her world for bold, honest, and deeply human conversations about the experiences in life that shape and connect us. In the first episode Emma talks to her friend, the journalist and presenter Kate Thornton, about something she’s never spoken about publicly before: perimenopause. In the UK, 13 million women are currently experiencing the perimenopause, or menopause, but information about what it is and what can help can be hard to find. Emma tells Clare about her own experience.

Presenter: Clare McDonnell Producer: Andrea Kidd