Inspecting the Inspectorate: Ofsted Under Scrutiny [Paperback]

"Inspecting the Inspectorate" presents a broad variety of informed perspectives in response to the question: 'what is currently working in Ofsted's school inspections and what is not?'. The views range from those of a practising school inspector, to the head teacher of a primary school deemed by Ofsted to be 'outstanding'; the head teacher of a struggling school; an academic specialist on systems of school inspection; the general secretary of a teachers' union; a parent who led an action group to protest against the Ofsted judgement their child's school received; a senior reporter for the "Times Educational Supplement"; a representative from the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship; and, the former "Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools" under Ofsted's predecessor, "Her Majesty's Inspectorate". This collection of essays sets out the weaknesses in the current school inspection regime and the changes urgently required if Ofsted is to contribute to raising educational standards.

Kevin Avison, Executive officer, Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship. Kevin Avison has taught in maintained and Steiner schools. He is an executive officer to the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship and co-coordinator and senior adviser to the Steiner Waldorf Advisory Service. He has two grown-up children educated in Waldorf schools. Tim Benson, Head teacher. Tim Benson has been a head teacher at three primaries over a period of 22 years in increasingly large schools. His present school in East Ham is one of the largest in the country with nearly 900 pupils.Mick Brookes, General Secretary, National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). The NAHT has more than 28,000 school leaders in primary, secondary and special education. It is the largest union of its kind in Europe and the second largest in the world. An experienced teacher and head, Mick Brookes joined the NAHT Council in 1995 and was National President in 2000. He was elected General Secretary of the NAHT in April 2005. Sarah Drake, Inspector. A former lay inspector, Sarah Drake has been a schools' inspector since 1993. Over the years she has been involved in more than 400 inspections. Under the current inspection regime, 'section 5', Drake has led over 60 Ofsted inspections. Graham Lester George, Parent. Graham Lester George is a writer for film, television and radio. For three years he was Chair of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, is currently Vice President of the European Writers' Congress and is also a member of Bafta. He is married and has four children, two of whom are still at school, and has been a governor at his youngest son's school. In 2006 he led a 'Parents' Action Group' to protest against Ofsted's judgement of one of his children's primary schools. John MacBeath, Educationalist, University of Cambridge. John MacBeath is Chair of Educational Leadership at the University of Cambridge and Director of Learning. Until 2000 he was Director of the Quality in Education Centre at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. As well as focusing on leadership in his research, for the last decade Professor MacBeath has worked with schools, education authorities and national governments on school self-evaluation. Warwick Mansell, Education journalist and author. Warwick Mansell is a senior reporter with the Times Educational Supplement (TES) and author of Education by Numbers: the Tyranny of Testing, published by Politico's. A reporter with the TES since 1999, Mansell has specialised in most areas of education, including Ofsted, teachers' unions and the politics of schooling. Since 2003, he has been the TES's testing and curriculum specialist. Bavaani Nanthabalan, Head teacher. Bavaani Nanthabalan is head teacher at Torriano Junior School in North London's Kentish Town. Torriano Junior is a medium-sized school with a high proportion of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds and 46 per cent of pupils on free school meals. In December 2005, Torriano Junior School was one of the first schools to be inspected within the newly introduced 'section 5' inspection regime. Ofsted judged the school to be 'outstanding'. Pauline Perry, Former Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools. Appointed to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools in 1970, Pauline Perry was promoted to Staff Inspector in 1975. In 1981 she was made Chief Inspector, professional adviser to the Secretary of State on higher education, teacher policies and international relations. Today Baroness Perry is co-Chair of both the Conservative Party Policy Commission on Public Services and the all-party Parliamentary Universities Group. Anastasia de Waal, Director of Family and Education at Civitas. A social policy analyst, she is also a qualified primary school teacher, trained specifically for teaching in the inner city. De Waal is author of Inspection, Inspection, Inspection (2006) and Second Thoughts on the Family (2008), as well as a number of reports on education. She is a regular contributor to print and broadcast media, panellist for the Observer and board member of Women's Parliamentary Radio.