We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers. This one from Patsy Lacey. Ed
Ofsted’s report on the Arrangements for the Protection of Children on the Isle of Wight is the first which lays bare the level of mismanagement by Councillors and Council senior staff on the Island.
So what is the position of children on the Island now?
The Ofsted report on Cowes Enterprise College puts the College into Special Measures. The Principal resigned. This followed the suspension of Janet Newton Deputy Director of Education, apparently held to account for delays in opening the new building.
It is rumoured in the bazaars that Cowes governors and staff were stunned. In Ofsted speak “Notice to Improve” means that the school is aware of its failings and is trying to improve. “Special Measures” means that the school is failing and nobody realises it.
Sandown Academy Ofsted inspection
Ofsted visited Sandown Bay on Tuesday 15 January. It doesn’t take much to predict that the result will either be Notice to Improve or Special Measures.
Do not look for resignation from their Head. Mrs Khan Jones was only appointed in September 2012 to the Academy run by the Academies Enterprise Trust.
She left Carisbrooke College the previous April saying she wanted to go back to a city environment and be close to her family.
Judith Richardson, Chief Executive of the Island Innovation Trust was left without a Head for a term. However she paid for that, the poor GCSE results and telling the truth to Steve Beynon and the Island Innovation Trust with her head (awful pun sorry).
Shaheen Khan Jones obviously missed the challenge in Island education.
Hacked off
Not so her husband, Steve Jones, former Head of Physics at Ryde School. He returned to Hackney’s Mossbourne Academy as Deputy Head in December 2012. This was the post held by Mrs Khan Jones when Sir Michael Wilshaw, now Head of Ofsted, was that Academy Head.
If and when Carisbrooke College is inspected, Inspectors will find a new Head, David Shaw. Assistant Head Stephen Boyd is Assistant Head responsible for Discipline.
New free school
He is one of a consortium applying to open a new school with an accent on discipline. His experience at Carisbrooke will prove useful hopefully.
Medina College employed CfBT at considerable cost, to audit performance. They issued quite an anodyne statement, sometimes it is called damning with faint praise. Presumably the results from recent exams will demonstrate the value of CfBT expertise!
Running out of sacrificial lambs
Council Leader David Pugh and his Chief Executive Steve Beynon who is an expert in education will soon be running out of sacrificial lambs.
Judith Richardson, Janet Newton and Jonathan Russell have all fallen on someone’s sword.
The latest excuses about failing the most vulnerable of our children include blaming Ofsted’s stricter regime. Ofsted have been operating this regime for nearly a year – didn’t anyone notice?
Various grades of inadequacy?
Our responsible Council Member is not standing again so holding her to account is probably a non-starter as she has nothing to lose.
The most damning criticism is that management is inadequate. That starts at the top. David Pugh will be held to account in May, if he decides to tough it out that long.
Chop from the top
Will Mr Beynon continue to cling on to his £150,000+ salary and be thick-skinned enough to wash his hands frequently? His predecessor Joe Duckworth went to another authority at the highest Chief Executive’s salary in the country and from there to be CE of the National League against Cruel Sports. Is the hunting of Steve a matter for Joe now?
If the Island is looking for fast improvements, they are probably doomed to disappointment. Our children deserve better.
Image: Jumpinjimmyjava under CC BY 2.0
