COME clean! The Riverside School Inspection Service is the hilarious creation of Ted Wragg in another fiendish attempt to discredit the Office for Standards in Education (“Only the weak need fear OFSTED”, Letters, TES, June 23).
The service’s spokeswoman, Liz Jones, was initially quite convincing as a smiling, fun OFSTED person “doing a policing job”.
The act wore a bit thin, when she seemed mystified that good teachers persist stupidly in worrying, and don’t welcome OFSTED chaps with open arms.
Only those taking money for not doing their job well need tremble, was the message.
Now, everyone knows that teachers become good precisely because they do worry, and are honest enough to concede thatsometimes they perform well, and at other times are vulnerable, especially in tough city schools.
So I guessed that this must be a spoof letter.
The sycophantic Woodhead quote, and the priceless bit about booting out her keyboard operatives if they don’t cut the mustard, were the final giveaways.
The joke wore a bit thin with the arrogant put-down that our OFSTED masters “have a great deal more experience” than mere mortals in the classroom.
But on the whole , the letter was a great joke.
We all know that no civilised society would ever empower such people to inspect our teachers or our children. Would it ?
Ian Feely
6 Windlesham Rd
Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex
