Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Teacher 'pays' troublemakers to stay away

Richard Garner
Thursday 05 January 2012 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Troublemaking pupils are being offered £100 bribes to skip school during inspections, according to a survey of teachers.

A teacher in a school described as a "hell-hole" discovered his deputy head in the playground with a fistful of £20 notes to distribute to those pupils not required on inspection days.

Other action apparently taken by schools to secure the best ranking include encouraging weaker teachers to take sick leave and sending one newly-qualified teacher home on a disciplinary notice.

The stories emerged when the Times Educational Supplement posed the question "the worst thing your school has done because of an Ofsted inspection" on its website. It received 110 submissions in a month.

Another example centred on a piece of artwork that was highly praised during a school inspection, which was then loaned to neighbouring schools.

Ofsted described the figures as "disappointing". It said it had received 38 complaints about school misconduct during an eight-month period last year.

The Education Secretary Michael Gove has expressed his concern over schools encouraging students to play truant on inspection days, and would like "no notice" visits whereby inspectors arrive unannounced.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in