Lucy Kellaway’s article “Let teachers teach, not pore over Ofsted folders” (Comment, Dec 18) was a breath of fresh air. Ofsted is no longer fit for purpose; in fact it doesn’t seem to know what its purpose is.
We need a regime that offers practical help rather than a nit-picking exercise every couple of years. One would think that a government so devoted to “levelling-up” might see that grading schools as they do at the moment — in effect setting one against another — is detrimental to the education of pupils and the viability of some schools.
Schools are there to educate, not to be glorified form-fillers turning somersaults to obey an endless stream of edicts from governmental organisations. So much for the independence the academy system promised.
Vanessa Smith, chair of governors, Isleworth & Syon School for Boys, London
Arbitrary destruction
Kellaway’s article stuck a chord with me. In 2015 the school I taught at had a full inspection. We had been in the “requires improvement” category, and had worked hard to accomplish just that, so we were overjoyed to get a rating of “good”. The whole school felt different.
I was then absent for two weeks with an illness. When I returned, the atmosphere of gloom was palpable. “What ever is wrong? I asked in the staff room. It turned out that two inspectors had turned up a few days after the full inspection and downgraded the rating to “requires improvement” again. No lessons were observed, and we never found out on what basis the original verdict had been overturned. Letters and appeals proved useless.
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The effect on the school was devastating. Morale dropped through the floor, and the place has never recovered.
StJohn Cox, languages teacher (retired), Taunton
Out of the blue
Ofsted inspections should be “random”, with no notice given to schools. At present, weeks or months of stressful preparation produces perfect paperwork but adds nothing to the pupil experience.
Before becoming a teacher in 1988, I was a bank clerk. Bank inspectors simply turned up en masse and went through every till and account, so staff had no time to hide mistakes or irregularities. Surely that is the best and most honest type of inspection.
Most teachers do a good job. Those that don’t would quickly be shown up by such a system.
Linda Miller, further education teacher, Dereham, Norfolk
Care suffers too
The shortcomings of the Ofsted system also affect social services. The priority for children’s homes has become satisfying Ofsted’s requirements rather than providing good-quality facilities. There is an obsession with obtaining an “outstanding” grade and adapting everything to that end.
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In any case, there is no way a two-day inspection can possibly grade a 365-day service. Kellaway is right: the grading system should be scrapped and services rated as either satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
Tony Daniels, social services administrator, Bracknell
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