So Ofsted concludes that 500 school governing bodies need “urgent external reviews” (Report, 20 November). Is Sir Michael Wilshaw really so surprised? And what is his solution? Pay chairs and vice-chairs. Put aside that many very effective school governing bodies have other members working just as hard; where does Ofsted think this money is going to come from? “That,” Ofsted will say, “is not our problem,” which of course it isn’t. It will, however, be that of schools as yet another draw on monies meant for the essentials: high-calibre teachers and support staff. Sir Michael is reaching overly simple solutions to a problem that didn’t just appear with the “Trojan horse” scandal – a horse that bolted well before Ofsted slammed the door. The fact is that most governors, as volunteers, do a fantastic job. They are not helped by blanket accusations of incompetence and financial profligacy. Sir Michael would do better highlighting where excellence prevails, and in so doing illuminate for other talented individuals how being a governor can be one of the very best things anyone can do – and for which the rest of us, including Sir Michael, should be eternally grateful.
Clive Webster
CEO, Kent Catholic Schools’ Partnership
• England’s 300,000 school governors are the largest national group of volunteers. Undoubtedly, where quality is a problem we need to do more to encourage and support recruitment as well as collaboration with well-governed schools. Paying governors is not only no guarantee of quality but, in monetising one more aspect of our social relations, strips out another means of civic commitment based on community service. Not good for lessons on British values, Sir Michael.
Hywel Thomas
Birmingham
• The suicide of a headteacher on which you report (Stressed head hanged herself after Ofsted downgrading, 21 November) was not the first and it won’t be the last until both inspectors and inspected change their mindset. Both need to come to accept inspection as a tentative, inevitably subjective but hopefully professional snapshot of how a school appears at a particular point in time to a group of experienced educationists. The latter’s recommendations should be seen not as diktats nor as unchallengeable judgments but as stimuli to reflection and possible action by the teachers and governors of the school concerned. They should not be used to categorise schools, teachers or headteachers. Educational reality is too complex, too contentious and too elusive for that kind of overall, seemingly objective and authoritative judgment.
Professor Colin Richards
Former HM inspector of schools
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