Letters to the Editor – 11/06 – Ofsted inspections, Best of Twitter
Ofsted inspections
[Re: Should schools be subject to snap Ofsted inspections, yesterday]
Ofsted has demonstrated that it is incapable of looking after the interests of children and young people. Labelling schools that were judged “outstanding” a few months ago as “inadequate” now confirms that its judgements are capricious: its inspectors go into schools to look for evidence that will support assumptions they have already formulated; schools are damned for minor infractions of the rule book; the agency takes no responsibility for the damage it does to the confidence of the children in those schools it has so casually condemned. Giving such an organisation the licence to carry out no-notice dawn raids is an appalling idea. Ofsted should be replaced at once by an inspection process that is in the hands of students, parents and communities.
James Park, director of ProgressWay and Demos author
In any other activity subject to statutory inspection, being unready for an inspection equates to being unfit to operate. If the National Union of Teachers was a real professional body, rather than a pressure group for its members, it would not have a problem with this.
Name withheld
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