OFSTED’s advice that local authorities should be “minimalist” in their approach to raising classroom standards ignores the fact that most schools value authority inspection visits, it was claimed this week.
The Society of Education Officers said the recommendation, published in a draft report on LEA involvement in schools improvement, came despite evidence that mos authority support for schools worked.
The OFSTED report acknowledged Audit Commission findings that two-thirds of authority visits to schools in councils inspected last year were effective.
The report concluded that councils should leave schools to determine how they should improve and visit them only when they were in difficulty.
Letters, 19.
