Tongue in cheek though it was, Ray Tarleton’s piece “I come to praise Ofsted not to bury it” (July 2) was staggeringly objectionable.

Admitting that it is only Ofsted that results in his school having adequate lesson plans, staff attendance and attention to the outcomes of Every Child Matters is poor enough, even as a joke, but to defend a discredited and muddle-headed inspection regime on the single worthwhile comment that joint lesson observation is developmental is hardly sufficient to justify Ofsted’s continued existence. The fact is that it is high time Ofsted was abolished.

Rick Wells, Principal and chief executive, Hartlepool Sixth Form College.