Chris Woodhead

Schools Chief Inspector Won't Be Gagged

However, Mr Woodhead, who has been made joint head of a new standards task force, also said he was "very optimistic" about a changing "culture" among teachers.

He told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost that the vote against him on Friday at the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers "saddened" him.

"It is a distraction in the sense that schools across the country are raising standards, working positively to the sort of agenda Education Secretary David Blunkett has announced. But it didn't surprise me. It's inevitable. My job is to tell the public how schools are doing, strengths and weaknesses, and obviously some in the teaching profession think the revelation of weaknesses is unacceptable."

Woodhead: core beliefs and optimism

Mr Woodhead said Professor Tim Brighouse, with whom he will head the new standards task force, had shown in his work in Birmingham "a real and powerful commitment to raising standards in Birmingham's schools."

He and Professor Brighouse had not always agreed on every detail of how standards should be raised, but Mr Woodhead was determined to work "harmoniously" with every other member of the group, he said. He was "not really sure" what kind of teaching methods Professor Brighouse stood for.

Woodhead on Brighouse

He said he had made clear to Mr Blunkett that his participation in the new standards group "depends on my maintaining freedom of speech. "The role of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is an independent role. It's desperately important that that independence is preserved. I will say what I think is the case from the inspection evidence. It will be for David Blunkett to come to decisions about what the group's conclusions are."

Talking to David Frost

"Ofsted has a tremendous responsibility to say what is going well ... but equally we must be honest when we find difficulties and failures."

Asked if he was threatening to leave the task force if he was not allowed to speak out, Mr Woodhead said: "There is no question of me departing. But on the other hand, the independence of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of fundamental importance."

He warned that "tough decisions lie ahead of the Government. "The fact that more than half our 11-year-olds fail to achieve an acceptable level of literacy and numeracy can be changed, by improving head teacher qualifications and setting tough new targets.

Change, however, will be difficult for some. But I have made clear that I will allow no vested interest and no outdated dogma to get in the way of my determination to raise standards in our schools," said Mr Blair.