Unannounced School Inspections Best Way Forward
April 2, 2009 9:01 AM
Exeter Liberal Democrat PPC Graham Oakes backed OFSTED in their switch to unannounced school inspections.
Under the old systems schools would know roughly when their inspection was due and the Head would be informed a few days before the actual date. This resulted in teachers working long hours putting up new displays and planning excellent lessons - it also created a lot of stress.
Under the new system, similar to the approach adopted by CSCI in the social care sector - the inspectors just arrive and inspect what they find.
Critics of the new approach, including some teaching unions, say that this could result in head teachers possibly not being present during the inspection, records not being readily available for the inspectors and may change the relationship between schools and OFSTED in improving learning.
It is likely that because the lessons have not been minutely planned the overall standard of teaching in our schools will appear to have dropped.
Graham Oakes commented: "I support this change because it will reduce the stress on teachers and give us a more accurate data on what is actually happening in our schools. The LEA, not OFSTED, need to improve learning in our schools."
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