Can Ofsted inspections cause more harm than good to our schools?

THE suicide of primary head teacher Ruth Perry faced with a damning Ofsted inspection report is the tragic outcome of an education system under strain and an overloaded inspection system. Teaching is a high-stress occupation, subject to alteration by changing governments and constantly under the scrutiny of parents and public bodies.

We all have an opinion on what pupils need and what teachers and schools should provide. Schools do need to be monitored to ensure the education they offer meets the needs of the pupils in an ever-changing world.

But the way reputations can be made or destroyed by a single word is a condemnation of the way Ofsted reports its findings. Every school will have elements that are praiseworthy and aspects that need attention, but the system appears not to have evolved from its critical eye approach into offering genuine support for schools that need to improve. After an inspection, the inspectors should be required to work with the school and staff on the areas