It is troubling that the media do not generally discuss the more than 400 schools that were found to be inadequate but have analysed every detail of the failure of the two free schools. Ordinary families can easily be forgiven for thinking that those two free schools were the only inadequate schools in the country. And this is where things become dangerous. As an example, there was an inordinate amount of media coverage when Sally Morgan was not reappointed as chair of Ofsted by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove. She was not dismissed, as the media claimed. Gove appointed the Labour baroness himself to the post in 2011 and she served a full term. Maybe Morgan's thinking was too similar to that of Wilshaw's. Maybe it is as Gove says: he just wanted to shake things up a bit. Why is this so impossible to believe?

 

The media help to shape public opinion — and public opinion matters when it comes to school choice. It plays a large hand in encouraging failing schools to get better. If the media give an inaccurate impression of the reality of our state schools, then not all schools will be held to account and Ofsted's excellent judgements in these cases will go unheeded. There are two things that schools have to get right for general success: behaviour and teaching. If children are behaving themselves and learning, then on the whole parents will choose the school.  

Ofsted does seem to get it when it comes to behaviour. It looks at the results rather than the methods. It wants to see children behaving themselves and if they are, inspectors are happy. Whether that is achieved with progressive behaviour methods like restorative justice, or whether the success is down to more old-fashioned line writing and Saturday detentions is not their concern. If it works, they're happy. For some reason, this has not been the approach when it comes to teaching. The role of Ofsted should be the same here. Inspectors should look at the data and judge whether the children have indeed been learning. Their job is not to prescribe what should be happening in lessons, just as it is not to tell headteachers how to run their detention systems. 

Alas, the chances of a Left-Right consensus to reform Ofsted now look remote. When Civitas and Policy Exchange voiced their concerns over Ofsted, the teaching unions were silent. Similarly, when Michael Gove recently made some comments to schools on how they might improve behaviour — suggestions, not orders — the leaders of the unions were all over the media denouncing them, rather than supporting their members and welcoming the advice being given to heads, the ones who should be held to account for behaviour in their schools. Never has there been a clearer opportunity for the unions to support their teachers. 

Half of teachers leave the profession in the first five years because of stress brought on by bad behaviour and Ofsted pressure. Union leaders, teachers and think-tanks alike should demand reform of Ofsted and insist that heads support their teachers with effective behaviour systems. In other words, we should all support Michael Gove and Sir Michael Wilshaw in their extensive reform of our education system.