Head slams policies in open letter to parents

Tony Ryan, head of Chiswick School, an improving state comprehensive in west London, said in the open letter on the school’s website that Michael Gove, the education secretary, was “fixated on an education system that belongs in the past”, and that this was being achieved through an “unprecedented” pace of change.

Mr Ryan assured parents that he would not deviate from the school’s plans to offer a broad and balanced curriculum, despite the government’s English Baccalaureate. He said arts and PE were being “sacrificed at the altar” of the planned new qualification.

He writes: “These changes are driven by a perception that the English system is falling behind progress made by teenagers internationally. This is by no means factual, as recently released data demonstrates that we have in fact improved our international standing over the last three years.