Michael Gove: top schools to be spared Ofsted inspections

By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent Published: 3:48PM GMT 01 March 2010

Addressing headmasters and headmistresses from 200 "outstanding" schools, Michael Gove, the shade childrens secretary, pronounced that Ofsted, the preparation watchdog, would be in essence reformed and refocused on unwell institutions.

Schools formerly identified as successful would be spared inspections, now hold at slightest once each 3 years and mostly described as stressful by teachers, unless a "warning signal" was triggered such as high staff turnover or bad examination results.

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The Conservatives have additionally affianced to pass an Education Bill inside of weeks of being elected, permitting tip schools to open as eccentric academies free from internal management carry out at the begin of the new tutorial year in September.

Mr Gove pronounced that Ofsted would be pared behind and systematic to combine on mending the misfortune schools. He added: "We will in essence remodel Ofsted so that it focuses on assisting those who are failing. We will free all superb schools from Ofsted inspection.

"We will get absolved of the eighteen official criteria that Ofsted inspects and ask inspectors to concentration on only 4 things the peculiarity of teaching, the peculiarity of leadership, poise and safety, and student attainment."

Ed Balls, the Children"s Secretary, pronounced that schools indispensable a some-more severe regime. He added: "We have already reformed the Ofsted inspections complement so that weaker schools are legalised some-more mostly and high behaving schools less often.

"But it would be wrong to contend that a little schools, even those that are now you do well, should as a have a difference of element never be legalised again."

If Ofsted detected that a propagandize was failing, Mr Gove said, it would be taken out of internal management carry out and put underneath the carry out of a organisation with a "proven lane record".

An approaching 100 schools that had been in special measures for some-more than a year by the finish of the subsequent tutorial year would be sealed and reopened as academies in 2011. The same routine would occur for all schools in special measures for longer than twelve months.

Opening the conference, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, pronounced that if elected, mending tutorial standards would be a key priority for his government, earnest to deliver: "the focus of great usual clarity and unsentimental changes that will have all the schools better."

Pledging that a Tory supervision would take evident transformation on schools, Mr Gove additionally voiced that successful delegate schools would be equates to to take over unwell internal primaries.

He said: "If we win the election, we will action inside of days to lift standards.

"We will rught away shift the law so we can set hundreds of great schools free from domestic division and capacitate them to assistance struggling schools. We will capacitate them to free as academies this September.

"And we will commission them to take over unwell primaries or alternative schools that need their leadership.

"We contingency meddle most progressing as a republic to mangle the infamous turn of tutorial failure.

"That equates to utilizing the impetus the academies transformation brings to spin turn underperformance and lift standards."