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Press Release

Oftsed consultation on changes to school inspection in England

22 March 2011

Commenting on the consultation, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union said;

“The ability for parents to complain directly to Ofsted is already in place and has been very rarely used, which shows that parents are generally very supportive of their children's schools. Parents will not want to be involved in triggering early inspections. To offer such an opportunity is unnecessary.

“What is important for parents is that they have a voice in schools and that their views are taken seriously. It's not clear therefore why parents, who may have quite legitimate questions to which they seek answers, would choose this route.

“Asking inspectors to judge the quality of the teaching of reading in primary schools and literacy in secondary schools is yet another example of how hollow the Government's words about trusting teachers actually are.

“There is already enough accountability and assessment measures for reading and literacy in schools. To add to this the judgement of inspectors, who in many cases will not have sufficient knowledge to carry this out, is not only nonsense but could provide extremely inaccurate judgements. We need intelligent accountability – government must trust the professionals”.

“Before Ofsted embarks on yet more unnecessary means by which to judge schools, it needs to put its own house in order. The current variability in inspection teams as well as the punitive nature of the inspection regime, which often has little to do with the standard of education children receive, needs to be addressed”.



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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