Ofsted launches school review website
By Elizabeth Smythe
20/10/2011
Parents will be given the chance to rate their child's school via a new website, BBC News reports.
Parent View, has been launched by education watchdog, Ofsted, aiming to provide parents a well-rounded picture of locals schools when choosing where to send their child.
The site can only be accessed upon receipt of a valid email address for registration purposes; however, parents will be able to make a review anonymously, without the school being able to identify them.
Parent View will present parents with 12 "closed" statements regarding all of the country's 22,000 state schools. Statements include: "My child is happy at this school" and "My child is well looked after at this school".
Parents will be asked to rank their belief in these statements, with options ranging from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree'. The automated IT software the site uses will compile responses into a rankings chart, which will be saved at the end of each school year to allow for annual comparisons.
Ofsted chair, Baroness Sally Morgan, told The Telegraph that the intention was to create a true picture of a school and avoid any hearsay. "Parents want to be able to pas on more clearly a picture of a school to each other," she said.
"We know it's already out there, so in a sense you can stand outside a school gate and pick something up, or there's things in the local paper, but it's to try and make it somewhat more systematic for people to be able to give regular feedback."
The National Union of Teachers, meanwhile, is not convinced and wonders why parents would be encouraged to seek out answers from a questionnaire - rather than approach schools direct. They are concerned that the system may be open to abuse.
"Schools could easily be targeted by parents unfairly, or even in anger, which could result in a false impression being given of the school," warned Christine Blower, NUT general secretary.
