Can you ask OFSTED to visit a school?

[roberta3]

The school attended by my DS is going down the pan - mainly due to the crap leadership provided by the head.

I would love OFSTED to visit to see if this would make the head get his/her act together.

Do OFSTED just work their way through a list or can you approach them?

PS. No use going to governors cos they're useless too!

If I were worried enough to want to get OFSETD in and felt equally that the givernors were rubbish, I would be looking for a new school for my child.

This is said as someone who also does not think that an OFSTED inspection is the be all and end all of determining how good a school is....

Mmmm I know what you mean popsycal but its such a big decision. Academically he's doing okay but I know he's not fulfilling his full potential. He's in a class where a lot of kids have special needs so I think the teacher is just glad to have the odd one like DS who just gets on with his work.

My bigggest concern is that nobody actually cares for my child. The head is a sleezy sales rep type (sorry to all nice reps!) who talks the talk when he needs to but then, for example, ignores you in the corridor even when you're there to help out in a class. He also is very intimidating with the kids when he's angry and there are rumours that he's had a couple of kids up against the wall (physically) when he's 'lost' it with them.

Despite all this my DS likes the school but I just know it could be better.

you can complain to Ofsted directly (their phone number is on their website) and they will investigate

Yes you can go directly to OFSTED, but even if the governors are useless, I would first approach them, and if they underperform for you, then you have an even stronger case to go to OFSTED with.

Is it not worth chatting with his teacher to see how she is meeting his learning needs as she has such a mixed ability group, what provision is she putting in place for ds?

Good luck