THE man behind a damning letter slating the state of Swindon’s education system last year has now praised the town’s schools for their hard work in addressing some of the issues he raised.

Ofsted’s south west regional director Bradley Simmons caused uproar in the town last November when he made highly-critical remarks in a letter to all headteachers, chairs of governors, council officials and MPs – stating that “Swindon’s children were failed by its schools at every key stage”.

Mr Simmons also called Swindon’s phonics results “some of the poorest in the country”, while also voicing concerns about KS1, 2 and 4, declining Ofsted ratings in secondary schools and high levels of exclusion.

In his original letter he also said: “If Swindon’s pupils are to have the skills and qualifications required to improve their life chances everyone with a responsibility for education needs to take immediate action.”

Now eight months on, Mr Simmons has penned another open letter, but this time to commend the town’s schools for working with Swindon Borough Council and other stakeholders to improve the quality of education for youngsters.

In his new letter Mr Simmons says: “The decision to write a letter like that is never easy. I haven’t written many. I knew it would be controversial. But I felt the issues were too important to ignore. I stand by that letter. It started a public conversation about the quality of education in Swindon’s schools and I hope it continues to encourage more conversations. “I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their constructive response to the challenge I gave them last year. It’s clear that everyone involved in education in Swindon understands the challenges we face.”

In the months that followed his damning comments, action was promptly taken by key stakeholders leading to the formation of the Swindon Challenge Board, bringing together all key stakeholders in education, including the Regional Schools’ Commissioner, headteachers, the teaching schools, governors, local businesses and senior council leaders.

Swindon Borough Council has set aside £600,000 over the next three years to support the board which aims to see every Swindon school rated as ‘good’ or better by 2020, while also increasing the proportion of young people accessing higher education by 25 per cent.

Another key target will be to ensure that Swindon’s GCSE results and post 16 indicators at least meet national averages for all pupils, including those with special education needs and disabilities.

Mr Simmons also visited a number of the town’s schools to witness first-hand the hard work being put in by staff and teachers, including at Even Swindon Primary.

Alison Lowe, the headteacher there said: “Swindon headteachers and the local authority have continued to work together on a number of projects this year in order to share our good practice and learn from each other. “I am pleased that the projects are having a positive impact for the children in Swindon and know that we have a group of leaders and teachers who are committed to continuing this excellent work.”

But despite the showering of praise from Mr Simmons, some schools want to highlight that while the letter shed light on many issues in the town’s education system, much work was already underway before his letter was published.

Goddard Park Primary School headteacher Mike Welsh said: “In the original letter, all he did was not recognise, unfortunately, the excellent trend that Swindon’s primary schools have already made. We had a one-year slight drop on a new assessment system, which even the Secretary of State said shouldn’t be used as an indicator but for some reason he used that against us.

“If he has recognised the quality of work in primary schools then we are pleased about that but his failure to do so last year was his failure and not Swindon’s primary schools. Our actions were happening well before his letter.

“One thing we were concerned about back in November is prospective candidates looking for teaching positions will google Swindon and see his unfortunate words. We are trying to counteract that in a number of ways to make sure our school websites are giving the best information and support organisations like Switch On To Swindon.

“I wouldn’t want Bradley Simmons to think that it is his letter which is going to turnaround anything because we, as schools, know where we are and where we are heading. I want Swindon’s parents to know they can rely on us to provide an excellent education for their children.”

Headteacher of Kingsdown School, Wendy Conaghan agreed. “What a lot of people will be concerned about is that the improvements have been made because of his letter when in fact, a lot of work had already started before it was published,” she said.

“I know that a lot of his initial aggression in the letter was not just directed at the schools but also the local authority.

“We’ve since had a headteachers conference and we said we knew that work was going on beforehand.

“What Bradley said to us is that he has written similar letters to other authorities but the reason Swindon’s received so much concern was that it was picked up in the press.”

Here's Bradley Simmons' letter in full:

Many of you, particularly those with children, will remember that in November of last year I wrote an open letter to all those with responsibility for leading Swindon’s schools – headteachers, chairs of governors, chief executives of multi-academy trusts, the leader of Swindon Council and the Regional Schools Commissioner. The letter called on everyone involved in Swindon’s schools to do more to improve the quality of education for children in the area.

The decision to write a letter like that is never easy. I haven’t written many. I knew it would be controversial. But I felt the issues were too important to ignore. I stand by that letter. It started a public conversation about the quality of education in Swindon’s schools and I hope it continues to encourage more conversations.

Following the letter, I met with members of the Council, the Regional Schools Commissioner, chief executives of multi-academy trusts, local MPs and school leaders to discuss the best way forward. The sentiment in these meetings was positive. It was clear that everyone wants to make improvements.

I have also been able to visit eight of Swindon’s schools since November. I want take this opportunity to thank those schools for the warm welcome they gave me. It was fantastic to be able to talk to teachers on the ground and, of course, to meet some of the children.

The turnaround needed by schools in Swindon cannot happen in one year. I’m not expecting miracles, and neither should you. But what I found in the schools I visited was deeply encouraging. There is a wealth of knowledge and a good understanding of the challenges facing local schools.

This understanding and the willingness to work together across different schools are important first steps towards much needed improvements. The council and multi-academy trusts must continue these conversations.

We will have to wait until August to see how this year’s pupils have done in their national tests and exams. But I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their constructive response to the challenge I gave them last year. It’s clear that everyone involved in education in Swindon understands the challenges we face.

Swindon pupils deserve the best, and I hope that in this year’s exam results we start to see the improvements everyone is working towards.

After a long, hard year, I hope that both teachers and pupils enjoy their summer break.

South West Regional Director, Bradley Simmons.