Middlesbrough Ofsted letter ‘demoralising to teachers’
Ofsted regional director, Nick Hudson, has written to Middlesbrough Council to raise concerns about standards in primary education in the town.
According to a report in the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, the letter describes primary standards as “weak” and “inexcusable”. The report said poor results at primary stages “leave [pupils] at a significant disadvantage as they move into secondary education”.
Head Teachers in the town have spoken of the demoralising effect of the letter, saying it paints a narrow picture of performance which will have an adverse impact on future recruitment.
Cherry Diemoz, Head Teacher of Breckon Hill Primary School, said Mr Hudson had taken
a narrow view of performance which failed to recognise the reports of his own inspectors in the town and did not acknowledge the progress made with pupils.
Ms Diemoz said: “This letter is a bit like colouring a picture with one colour, and Nick Hudson’s colour is black.
“This assessment ignores the reports of his own inspectors and also misses the huge steps made on progress with pupils.”
Breckon Hill experiences large transient rolls with a catchment area that includes migrant and Romany families plus Teesside University mature students. For a 50-strong Year 6, the school had 120 different children in the cohort, only 27 of whom were consistently at the school from Reception.
Ms Diemoz added: “We don’t need Nick Hudson to give us such bad press. It demoralises teachers and makes it difficult to recruit.”