A TOP Suffolk headteacher says Ofsted inspectors need to show more consistency as the monitoring body begins working with a new framework.

Geoff Barton, head at King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds, was speaking ahead of an online discussion he will take part in on the East Anglian Daily Times website today.

Mr Barton said schools’ relationship with the government and Ofsted seemed “more combative” than in the past and he hoped that inspectors would begin to show more consistency when applying the new framework during their visits.

He said: “What some inspectors are doing is looking at the front of a child’s exercise book and they are seeing a bit of graffiti and are assuming this means they have a poor attitude to learning.

“It seems to be very inconsistent.”

Ofsted’s new framework, which came into place from the start of the current academic year, places a sharper focus on aspects of schools’ work “that have the greatest impact on raising achievement”.

People will be able to ask Mr Barton questions about any education issue. He has been particularly outspoken about the GCSE marking row, raising the issue in his regular EADT column.

The webchat starts at 4.30pm.