Education a priority as civic leader deflects criticism from schools
EDUCATION has been outlined as a key priority for Derby as the city council's leader criticised the number of inspections carried out by the Government.
Councillor Paul Bayliss said in his blog: "The number of Ofsted inspections in this one school term has honestly been unbelievable.
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Paul Bayliss has accused Ofsted of making too many inspections in Derby.
"We only have 101 schools, including academies, and there have been 19 inspections.
"Someone joked to me that we should change the road signs to say 'City of Derby... welcomes Ofsted' as the inspectors are such frequent visitors."
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He also defended the schools in Derby against the criticism they have received nationally.
As highlighted in the Telegraph, this criticism was based on old statistics.
Mr Bayliss said: "Derby's schools have come in for some criticism recently and, while there is clearly room for improvement, we mustn't ignore the massive efforts already being made to help pupils achieve their learning potential.
"A lot has been made of a statistic quoted in Ofsted's annual report that the city is second from bottom in terms of the percentage of pupils attending a good or outstanding primary school.
"However, this is based on evidence from inspection and regulatory visits carried out between September 2011 and August 2012.
"Since September 2012, our schools have been alive with Ofsted inspectors.
"There were six school inspections in the first half of the autumn term and every single school was rated as good."
At a recent meeting to discuss the city's priorities, Mr Bayliss outlined education as key and said he was proud of what schools in Derby had achieved and the improvements they have made.
"We want our children to thrive at school and to take advantage of the employment opportunities on our doorstep," he said.
"We have some fantastic businesses in Derby requiring highly-skilled employees and apprentices and we want local children to have the abilities and qualifications to fill those posts."
Comments
by Bolkovac
Wednesday, December 26 2012, 3:26PM
“Aren't two of the people in the photograph in the same lodge as the Director of Children's Sevices?”
by Bolkovac
Wednesday, December 26 2012, 2:37PM
“Is this the same city council that works with senior school staff to sex-up information fed to Ofsted inspectors and parents and put a slimy gloss on some of the serious issues inside our schools?”
by dianae
Wednesday, December 26 2012, 12:38PM
“The comment from NewForOld points at the main problem in education - politics.
Because of politics, politians play God - changing policy as often as they change their socks with each policy change needing to be funded.
And that is before you look at budget decisions - even in times of comparative plenty, teachers were not always allowed to spend money on what was needed and what works.
They are education depts up and down the country and across the world - so there is a bank of research out there that says what works. The teaching of reading should not be dependent on what an education minister says but on what works best, with back up strategies to catch the children for whom plan A is not enough.
Same for teaching maths - it should not be that fractions are taught and retaught and retaught through infant, then juniors and then secondary. Waiting until a maths concept just about makes sense to a child then starting to teach it formally is better than putting kids off maths for life.
OFSTED doesn't sing to the same tune it did under last Chief Inspector and it'll change its tune many times before a child just about to start nursery school leaves aged 18.”
by NewForOld
Wednesday, December 26 2012, 10:18AM
“Funny how Bayliss wasn't saying this when he was in opposition. Maybe there are some real issues in Derby in our schools? If there are surely it is better to sort them out sooner rather than later”