I was interested to read Sean Coughlan’s report “Inspectors brush off fly-on- the-wall film”.
The BBC2 film, Modern Times: The Inspection, was totally realistic and dealt in an unbiased way with an Office for Standards in Education inspection where teachers were highly stressed, not due to the inspectors themselves, but to their own personal reactions to the process. Self-induced stress could be seen at various stages in the film resulting in anger and tears as “judgement day” came around.
A clear message for me and, I hope, other heads is to get into classrooms more and desensitise teachers to being judged and monitored. Managing an inspection is not just about the OFSTED visit but establishing a climate where an inspection can be coped with.
R B GOLDTHORPE Headteacher Walton Hall School Eccleshall, Staffordshire
