The new chief of the schools inspectorate Ofsted yesterday told the Association of Teachers and Lecturer's annual conference that there would be a "top to bottom" review of the way it carries out school inspections.

The main focus of a consultation paper, to be launched after the election, would be to make inspections more beneficial for schools and teachers as a way of examining their strengths and weaknesses, taking into account the school's own views and teachers' self-evaluations.

In a sharp break from the style of his predecessor, Mike Tomlinson told teachers that in future inspections would be "done with you, not to you".

Tomlinson also accused "lonely" parents of helping children skip school lessons.