It’s not fair. Mike Kent, a critic of Ofsted, is invited by Michael Cladingbowl (appointed HMI in 2002) to come on an inspection. I, another critic (appointed HMI in 1983), haven’t been invited to get myself “up to date”.

But if I was, then in line with Ofsted’s current practice, I would have to insist that the time and place of the inspection was of my choosing, that the inspectors concerned received no notice of my arrival and that I was given access in advance to the performance management data (anonymised, of course) of the inspectors I was inspecting. I await the letter of invitation from Mr Cladingbowl HMI, but with no great expectation.

[Update: an invitation from Ofsted has since been received. Negotiations are imminent.

Colin Richards, Former senior HMI, Spark Bridge, Cumbria.