Richard Brinton ( letters July 17th ) calls for Ofsted to be changed or abolished following a very critical inspection of a local Steiner school.

Whilst I certainly do not think Ofsted is above criticism this seems to be a blatant case of shooting the messenger because you don’t like the message.

His response typifies the arrogance of many who promote Steiner education believing it to be beyond judgement according to the standards expected of all schools.

Since it is inconceivable to them that the schools are indeed failing it must be the inspection process which is at fault. This despite the fact that the failings found in Steiner schools, which have led to some closing, are so consistent as to suggest a failing in the underlying pedagogy.

What has triggered this recent wave of extremely critical reports is the decision of Ofsted to take back control of Steiner school inspections from the School Inspection Service.

The inspection service included trained Steiner teachers who might be expected to be sympathetic to the school’s approach.

In fact there was great concern that this sympathy extended to turning a blind eye to the school’s failings, hence Ofsted’s decision to conduct its own urgent inspections. The results are in and are damning.

So it is the Steiner school’s themselves which must change and if they will not they must close.

Jim Watson

Stroud