ON its own, the report today by school watchdogs Ofsted on a Blackburn primary school makes somewhat grim reading as its concludes that too much of its teaching and learning is unsatisfactory.

But while parents, teachers and governors may view these findings in isolation, we look at them somewhat differently - as encouraging evidence of a wider system that works for the improvement of education.

For though every Ofsted report is a snapshot review of the performance of each school examined by its inspectors, taken together, they provide comparisons that are the stimulus for better standards.

Today, as we see, St Aidan's primary in Blackburn comes in for sharp criticism in the school inspector's findings - though, it must said, several positive features were noted in the report.

But balancing this is Ofsted praise for another school in town - just as there has been in recent days for other East Lancashire schools. This suggests that not only is the inspection system even-handed - though some teachers' organisations suspect that Ofsted is busily waging an ideological campaign against so-called progressive teaching methods - but also that it works better through being seen to be so.

For the system of publishing the inspectors' reports allows not just those working in schools to feel they are being appraised by unbiased judges, it permits parents and taxpayers to make value-for-money judgments and choices too.

And why not? As both providers and users of the education system they have a right to this information in principle.

But when it existed before in only confidential form, the can-do-better reports lacked the vital must-do-better pressure generated by openness and comparisons of the good schools with the indifferent ones.

Thus, we not only discover which are the good and bad ones, we expose all of them to our expectations - to the eventual improvement and benefit of all.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.