Former head speaks up for Beechen Cliff
School watchdog ‘succumbed to political pressure’
A former head teacher of Beechen Cliff School has called its recent Ofsted rating a “travesty” and accused the education watchdog of succumbing to political pressure.
Roy Ludlow, who was the Bath school’s headmaster from 1990 to 2005, contacted our website Bath Live after the school was judged “inadequate” in a report highlighting serious concerns about safeguarding.
Mr Ludlow said he thought inspectors had conducted their inspection with “prejudice” after an “unpleasant incident” earlier this year provoked concern in the community and in Parliament.
He said that, while the incident was shocking and its handling by school governors “disgraceful”, he believed inspectors had “grossly exaggerated” other criticisms of the school to “placate” public and political concern.
“Clearly there was a political imperative that they should give the school a kicking and they have duly obliged,” Mr Ludlow wrote in a letter to Bath Live.
“The result is a report in which the school is unrecognisable. Its few faults (and all schools have them) are exaggerated beyond measure. The report is a travesty.”
Ofsted has denied there was any political imperative behind its report, which it said was “firmly based on the evidence”. The school has said it will challenge the watchdog over some the report’s conclusions.
Speaking with us, Mr Ludlow emphasised that his remarks were those of a private individual with no current connection to the school and that no-one at the school knew he had contacted us.
He said he was “shocked” when he learned of the “highly regrettable” incident at the school earlier this year, but believed the headmaster’s actions had been exactly right and should have been supported by school governors.
“Some boys behaved in a stupid and irresponsible manner but some children behave like that from time to time at any school. The important thing is the way it is dealt with.
“It was an isolated incident and in no way typical of the behaviour of boys at Beechen Cliff School which is, on the whole, excellent.”
Mr Ludlow said he was a big supporter of Ofsted when it was introduced in 1992 as he believes that regular and rigorous school inspections improve education standards.
But, he said, he has become increasingly concerned that inspectors are coming under political pressure to rate schools inadequate in a “misguided” drive to increase the number of schools belonging to multi-academy trusts.
“Clearly, this is not the case with Beechen Cliff but it’s my view that the inspectors have set out to placate concerns expressed in Parliament and elsewhere.”
Mr Ludlow said it was “inconceivable” that the school had gone from “outstanding” to “inadequate” in the space of just four years.
“In 2014, the inspectors went into the school in an entirely evenhanded way. Safeguarding was already a very high priority then: it’s inconceivable that they would have missed any concerns,” he said.
“Clearly the inspectors have gone into Beechen Cliff with prejudice [this year], quite determined before even going into the school that they were going to find the school wanting.
“Other criticisms of the school have been grossly exaggerated. The inspectors were under political pressure, I think.
“It is in no way a fair and evenhanded report of the school.”
He said he thought the report undermined the credibility of the education watchdog.
“I do feel Ofsted has done the school a great disservice, and even more importantly, done Ofsted a great disservice.
“This report is not credible. If Ofsted reports are not credible, if people can’t believe them, what’s the point of them?”
An Ofsted spokeswoman said: “There was no political imperative here. Ofsted inspects schools objectively and impartially.
“All judgements are firmly based on the evidence inspectors find, which includes observing classroom teaching and learning, the behaviour of pupils, assessing pupils’ progress and outcomes, and talking to senior leaders and teachers.
“We judged this school to be inadequate for reasons that are clearly set out in our report. We carried out the inspection due to concerns about safeguarding, leadership and management, and the quality of education at the school.”
Mr Ludlow said safeguarding at the school was “fine” when he was headmaster.
When he left in 2005, there were about 1,000 students. Since then, its popularity has seen the roll grow to more than 1,300 pupils.
He estimates no more than five per cent of the boys would have been involved in incidents of seriously bad behaviour when he was headmaster. n Read Roy Ludlow’s letter on page 30
I do feel Ofsted has done the school a great disservice