Outstanding schools to be re-examined

A quarter of British schools rated ‘outstanding’ will be re-examined after it emerged that their teaching was rather sub-standard, according to the new chief inspector of schools in England, Sir Michael Wilshaw.

Schools will only be ‘outstanding’ if their teaching is, Sir Wilshaw told a speech at a London school. ‘We have tolerated mediocrity for too long, now radical improvements are needed.’

Nearly 1000 schools were given the outstanding status.

He said teaching is ‘central to the life of a school’ and should be a key factor in deciding if a school is outstanding.

The new framework introduced by education watchdog Ofsted on school grading reduced the number of areas on which schools are measured from 27 to 4 categories. Accordingly, the ‘satisfactory’ rating will also be replaced by a rating of ‘requires improvement’ in a bid to improve teaching.

According to Sir Michael Wilshaw ‘satisfactory’ was no longer good enough. ‘All parents want their children to go to good schools.’ There are 6,000 schools currently graded as ‘satisfactory’.

Schools will also face no-notice inspections under the new grading system.

However, teachers unions reacted angrily to the new proposal.

‘This is yet more aggressive rhetoric from a chief inspector who has obviously warmed to the task of attacking the teaching profession from any angle’ said Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

Poorna Rodrigo