UPDATED: The Chair of Ofsted’s Non-Executive Board, Sir David Hoare, is to stand down from his position with immediate effect just weeks after his attack on the Isle of Wight as a ‘poor, white ghetto’.
As previously reported by Island Echo, Mr Hoare described the Isle of Wight as a ‘poor, white ghetto’ that suffers from ‘inbreeding’ with a ‘mass of crime and drugs problems’. He later apologised for any upset or offence that he may have caused.
In a statement issued today, David Hoare has said:
“I have today informed the Secretary of State that I will be resigning from my position as Chair with immediate effect.
“It has been a great privilege to chair the Ofsted Board for the past two years. I am pleased that the organisation now has an excellent Board in place with expertise across all of our remit areas, including early years and further education.
“I am also pleased that Ofsted has recruited a strong new Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, who is due to take over from Sir Michael in January. We have also been able to agree the strategic priorities for Ofsted, focusing on improving the life chances for the disadvantaged children of our country. I will miss working with an excellent team, making a real difference.”
Senior Non-Executive Board member James Kempton has agreed to take on the role of Chair on an interim basis while the Secretary of State starts the process of appointing a permanent successor to Mr Hoare.
UPDATE @ 10:56 – Commenting on David Hoare’s resignation, Cllr Chris Whitehouse (Conservative Newport West Ward) says:
“There are no winners in this situation but he has done the right thing and hopefully Ofsted can move on. It will be a relief to parents and children at Island schools, and to our teachers — they can put this behind them.”
UPDATE @ 11:23 – The Island’s MP Andrew Turner has said in a statement this morning:
“Mr Hoare’s comments were inaccurate, insulting and extremely unhelpful. He subsequently apologised for what he said and for offence caused to Islanders. I said at the time that he would never have dared make such remarks about an area with a high ethnic population, and I stand by that view.
“The role of Ofsted is to help improve education, not demoralise teachers, insult parents and pupils and those involved in raising education standards. His resignation, albeit somewhat delayed was probably inevitable and clearly for the best.
“However, the furore has given some Islanders inspiration. The Island has a thriving musical heritage and East Wight band The Alberts penned a song extolling the virtues of the Isle of Wight. I hope it goes as viral as Mr Hoare’s original comments”
Mr Turner is a former geography teacher; whose parents were also both teachers.
UPDATE @ 14:00 – Councillor Jonathan Bacon, leader of the Isle of Wight Council and Executive member for children’s services, has this afternoon said:
“The Isle of Wight Council had welcomed Sir David Hoare’s offer to assist the Island by making sure that our challenges and problems are fully recognised. The council had been in constructive dialogue with his office to arrange his promised visit the Isle of Wight, and had a date in the diary for this, in order to better understand, recognise and acknowledge these challenges, faced by the Island.
“I extend the same invitation to Mr Hoare’s successor, whomever that may be, to visit the Island in order to learn more about the challenges we face and ensure that Ofsted is playing the fullest possible part, working alongside the other agencies, to support the further improvement of educational outcomes on the Island; so that they too can assist us in ensuring that the challenges and problems are fully recognised.
“I look forward to hosting them as soon as possible, so that we can continue our collective ambition to drive up standards and work constructively together for the benefit of Island children.
“Since entering partnership arrangements with Hampshire County Council in 2013, when Ofsted inspected the Isle of Wight and found 25 per cent of schools to be ‘inadequate’, including four of the six secondary schools; just one primary school is now judged by Ofsted to be inadequate, and that is well on a journey to improvement. There are no longer any secondary schools deemed inadequate. The quality of school improvement was re-inspected by Ofsted and found to be effective; testament to the improvements made and the positive journey that Island education is on.”
