Union attacks system

THE Oldham NUT has hit out the Government and Ofsted after a new report found that the borough ranked in the bottom four authorities in England for the percentage of pupils attending a good or outstanding secondary school.

In the National Ofsted Annual Report 2013/14, Oldham was told it must urgently improve standards after statistics showed only 36 per cent of pupils in Oldham attended a good or outstanding secondary school in 2014.

It placed the borough 147th out of 150 local authority regions in England.

Nigel Yeo, joint secretary of Oldham National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union in the borough, said: “The NUT congratulates Oldham schools for their hard work in an increasingly difficult education landscape.

“The Government has created a fragmented and disjointed secondary system.

“With over half of Oldham secondary schools now academies, our local authority no longer has the resources or remit to provide support to schools where there are concerns.

“Parents and carers will rightly feel let down that in some cases this has left their schools isolated and unsupported.”

He added that three of the lowest performing secondary schools are academies, which highlights that academisation has failed to improve performance.

He continued “The NUT’s position is that Ofsted should be abolished. “Pending this, clearly steps need to be taken to ensure Ofsted’s independence and clarity.

“Currently it is impossible for teachers and head teachers to understand how their school will be measured when the inspection framework changes as often as it has in recent years.”

He continued that Ofsted must share some of the blame for current and prospective teachers being put off the profession due to inspections, increasing workloads and performance related pay.

He added: “We are pleased that Oldham local authority have commissioned Estelle Morris to work with its Oldham Education Schools Commission.

“However it is disappointing that the council has not yet approached the teacher unions or their members to discuss the issues. These are the people who deliver education at grass root level in a very challenging environment and would be invaluable in advising the local authority on improving education in our town.”