ABSTRACT
The place is Lowstate school. It’s 10.10 on Saturday morning. I’ve been allowed into the school to research the effects of Ofsted inspections on primary teachers. I’m sitting in the infant hall with my back to the windows facing the display boards. It is very quiet and a contrast to the normal buzz and chatter of a school. I can hear a blackbird singing in the garden. The light, albeit filtered through tall pot plants climbing up the large window frames, shows up the highly polished floor. Every display board has a uniform three centimetre border made from black sugar paper-one was removed because it didn’t conform. The contents of the displays are all mounted and uniform computer printed labels explain the contents or challenge the reader to respond mutely. There are few teacher written labels.
