Caversham Primary School headteacher Ruth Perry killed herself while waiting for an Ofsted report which gave her school the lowest possible rating by downgrading it from outstanding to inadequate.

​

This news sent me reeling, as if I had been slammed in the chest by a heavy punch bag.

 

 This news sent me reeling, as if I had been slammed in the chest by a heavy punch bag.

​

The tragedy smacks at the very heart and soul of my website

​

Government interference in the running of schools has never been of benefit and never will.

​

The brainless efforts of the non-dyslexic government officials to resolve the massive problem of state education by penalising the largely dyslexic population is tantamount to criminal.

​

The curriculum system does not test intelligence, it purely tests memory and is in direct conflict with the famous Albert Einstein's quotes, "Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think”.

​

The Ofsted formula requires reading standards related to age.

​

The reading age of a non-dyslexic child can be years ahead of that of a dyslexic.

​

Ofsted takes no account of this when it pronounces the highly destructive "inadequate" rating for a school.

​

​

There is little doubt that Ofsted is directly responsible for Ruth's death.

​

There must surely be a case to condemn the Ofsted System advocates of manslaughter.

​

Recent political speeches by Michael Gove promoting the league table principle must put him in the frame.

​

It is plainly obvious to those who understand dyslexia that the school demise has come from an increased portion of the intake of children with a dyslexic background who inevitably fail the tests set by the Ofsted based system.

​

Non-dyslexic educationalists will, no doubt, protest with words like "You can't say that", "It's different now", "Things have improved".

​

But, while the fundamental philosophy remains based on a curriculum system involving the learning of facts and testing the memory, it will not change.

​

Unlike Theale School, which is addressed below, the history of the Caversham School is not available for scrutiny.

​

However, this is not considered important in reaching the devastating conclusions with respect to Ruth's tragic death.

​

At primary school level, as soon as you introduce a dyslexic child to words, the damage is started.

​

Whatever teachers might say, there are still no natural mechanisms to alleviate this problem.

​

The curriculum-based system still judges the child by an ability to read.

​

Words are man-made and unnatural.

​

A non-dyslexic can remember and recall a word without understanding its meaning.

​

A dyslexic must transform the word into a picture which cannot be done instantaneously. This transformation takes time.

​

Reading involves a series of words and can very quickly cause a "data overload" in the mind of a dyslexic.

​

There is no easy way to prevent this. Lots of practice is certainly not the way, it just causes more damage.

​

Special classes for the children with learning difficulties is certainly not the way.

​

You might just as well sit the children in the corner of the classroom with dunce caps on their heads.

​

Albert again, "“I very rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards.” 

​

The story of Theale School, while not as devastating as Caversham, is equally important in terms of the damage brought about by Ofsted interference.

​

Theale School has a wounded history through no fault of its own.

​

Changing technologies in terms of trains and cars have isolated Theale from Reading in such a way that makes Theale school unattractive to the whole of Reading catchment area.

​

A long time ago, before cars and buses and trains, Theale was a thriving village located on the Bath Road (A4), which was the main arterial road to the West country from London.

​

It was an important staging post for travellers with coach and horses.

​

It is said, there were thirteen hostelries. It seems the name Theale used to be two words, THE ALE.

​

In the early days, Theale was probably on a par with Reading as far as rural status was concerned.

​

Then, over the years, trains and cars have replaced the stagecoach and horses.

​

The development of the Great Western Railway through Reading diminished the status of Theale until it became little more than satellite of Reading.

​

The English section of the M4 motorway was constructed between 1961 and 1971 vaguely following the A4 Bath Road.

​

Theale found itself on the wrong side of the motorway, essentially cut off from Reading.

​

Theale is now a detached satellite. There are now only 4 pubs and Theale has lost its soul.

​

It is no longer an affluent area. 

​

The school was founded in 1963 as Theale Grammar school designed to provide education for 870 pupils.

​

With expansion during the 1970's the number of pupils was expected to rise to 1250 with a change to Comprehensive renamed Theale Green School.

​

During the 1980's several changes took place including the renaming to Theale Green Community School, the first Community School in the county with a growth of pupils to 1350.

​

The 1988 Education Reform Act introduced the National Curriculum. The start of the League Table rat race.

​

It is now a non-selective academy. It has about 570 boys and girls aged between 11 and 18.

​

In May 2017 the school was rated ‘Requires Improvement’ by Ofsted.

​

The present school opened in 2018. This school is now a member of Activate Learning Education Trust.

​

On the other hand, Reading, with its rail link to London has become an affluent commuter belt.

​

It has a dozen or more schools which no doubt have a high Ofsted rating.

​

Affluent people are invariably non-dyslexic people with academic qualifications and a professional career.

​

They will generally intermarry and produce non-dyslexic children.

​

Affluent parents in the Reading area will make sure they send their children to Reading schools with good Ofsted ratings.

​

They would never consider sending them to Theale school, especially if it had a poor Ofsted rating.

​

Theale school was logistically condemned by the evolving world of transport.

​

When Theale Green School was inspected in 2012 the school it was judged as inadequate and placed in special measures.

​

I found out about it at the bus stop from one of the pupils.

​

I lived in Theale for the  year 2014/5 when I first returned to England from Perth Australia.

​

The pupil at the bus stop was happy to talk about the school. She was doing OK, but her brother was dyslexic and not doing well at all.

​

She told me about the school's problems with Ofsted and was very interested in my ideas about dyslexia.

​

She suggested I talk to the headmistress.

​

I further researched the recent history of the school including a meeting with Dr Sally Beeson.

​

The school was operating under Academy status and was subject to two full Ofsted inspections in 2015 and 2017 each time "requiring improvement" after which it was closed.

​

Dr Beeson resigned as had her predecessors Sue Marshall and David Bromfield.

​

I read the Ofsted reports and they said absolutely nothing.

​

The recommendations were futile.

​

The whole Ofsted inspection exercise achieved nothing except to damn the school to its death.

​

The school is still open but not under the same Ofsted umbrella, so not being judged by the league tables.

​

This is probably a good thing, but the school will have zero credibility as an educational establishment.

​

This would back up my prediction that the school has a higher-than-average dyslexic pupils.

​

Over the huge catchment area, Reading schools have always attracted the affluent non-dyslexic pupils away.

​

Theale school has always been left with the rest. It did not need Ofsted to come and put the lid on their coffin.

​

It is not clear exactly what the status of the Theale Green School is now.

​

A Parent Survey Autumn 2020 has produced abundant pie and bar charts but like most statistics, not worth the paper they are written on.

​

The big question is whether they are still bound to compete in the League Table Rat Race which Michael Gove is so intent on?

​

Surely, here is an outstanding opportunity to abandon the traditional methods and follow Albert Einstein lead with his quote..... "Education is not the learning of fact but the training of the mind to think.” 

​

There are such schools, but I have to say, the one which ranks high in educational circles, Millfield School, near Street in Somerset, England, is bogus in terms of its advertised dyslexia showcase.

​

It is unlikely that they employ a single dyslexic person.

​

I have only ever known two people who attended Millfield and they were both expelled.

​

Firstly, my water sky partner in Freeport, Bahamas back in the early 1970's. We used to ski together with her on my shoulders.

​

I never asked why she was expelled. I assumed it was bad behaviour but looking back, it would be more fitting if she was dyslexic and was not going to make the grade.

​

Secondly, the other pupil was my younger son who was sent home two weeks before his GCE O Level exams, on the pretext that he had been smoking weed.

​

Most of the pupils smoked weed over the weekends out in woods. The headmaster sold his policy on blood sample testing by saying that the parents would be invited in to discuss the way forward.

​

In Barney's case we were just told to pick him up the same day and take him home.

​

Barney was going to do really badly in the exams and Millfield did not want him spoiling the school's records.

​

We had specially sent him to Millfield because of their advertised capability but they failed and Barney paid.

​

In actual fact, with Millfield being one of the most expensive schools in England, we, his parents paid.

​

I put the situation to my lawyer and he said I had a very strong case. However, the hearing would be in Street, Somerset, local to the school, and we were bound to lose.

​

There is a happy ending though. Barney spent the next year in a "crammer" in Kensington and ended up with six "B" grades.

​

Alas, it is unlikely that Michael Gove is able to understand such a situation.

​

Being a staunch non-dyslexic, Gove is blinkered by his arrogant convictions that a curriculum driven educational system is the only way.

​

The prejudiced motives that dyslexic children are not entitled to the same attention and funding as non-dyslexic children is quite repulsive.

​

I target Gove because he is the epitome of a non-dyslexic, arrogant, member of the academically elite mindless ruling-class.

​

On the other hand, I believe Boris Johnson is dyslexic as was Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein.

​

Boris is so like me in so many ways. I can easily understand with so much going on with Brexit.

​

I keep a logbook to remind me what I did yesterday.

​

I can easily understand with so much going on with Brexit and the pandemic, Boris’ mind automatically selected not to remember the circumstances surrounding the eating of a piece of cake several weeks ago.

​

Most of the Tory Party are like Gove and would never get close to understanding that, or anything else come to think of it.

​

​