Sir.–Well done to Julie Churcher, of Aldworth Science College, for challenging Ofsted. In my view, she is right to do so for the school and for the students. The results speak for themselves and were accurately reported in The Gazette on December 9.

My daughter joined Aldworth this year and I am extremely happy with the school, and I have no doubt in the capabilities of the teachers and their concern for the children’s welfare.

Communication between the school and parents is first class, and they deal with concerns immediately.

I believe that the teaching is excellent and I have seen my daughter grow in confidence and perform well in subjects she shied away from previously.

Academically, my daughter has already moved up several steps from her SAT results, which, as a parent, I feel is a fantastic achievement in a short space of time, particularly in subjects which were not her strong point.

I hope Ofsted sees sense and looks again at the overall result. Four outstanding, 16 good and just four satisfactory grades should not lead to an overall grade of satisfactory – anyone can see that.

It is unfair that Ofsted have graded the school as satisfactory because of a few children’s behaviour. I hope that Julie Churcher and the school get re-graded as ‘good’ because that is what Aldworth is. I am sure that I speak for many parents when I say that I was disappointed not by the school, but by Ofsted.

–Karen Driscoll, Derwent Road, Kempshott, Basingstoke.

Sir.–I am the chair of governors at Aldworth Science College so I suppose you would say I am biased in my comments over the outcome of the college’s recent Ofsted inspection.

I agree wholly with the comments made by head teacher Julie Churcher in your December 9 edition of The Gazette. The full governing body support the statement that Aldworth is more than satisfactory, and is a good high-achieving school.

I was interviewed by the lead inspector who came to the interview badly briefed, uncomfortable with my answers to her questions, and in a rush.

More than once she said she was running late and had run over her next two interviews. This was after 30 minutes and I was scheduled for 50 minutes.

In my 15 years as a governor and two as chair during an Ofsted inspection, some of the outcomes being good and some not so good, this was the worst organised inspection, despite many aspects being graded as good.

–Robert William Lock, Chair of Governors, Aldworth Science College.

Sir.–Regarding the surprising Aldworth Science College Ofsted report as just ‘Satisfactory’. Having only left Aldworth in June myself, I must say I found these findings of simply ‘satisfactory’ totally surprising and incorrect.

In my time at Aldworth, I can honestly say I enjoyed every single year in that school, and every year we had a full ‘Outstanding’ report from Ofsted.

All the teachers work exceptionally hard, not one of them is unfriendly and every single pupil is friendly and gets on with the work.

Julie Churcher is an exceptional head teacher, and during my time at Aldworth she has always worked her hardest to help me out with any personal problems along the way.

Without a doubt, she works to the best of her ability to help her pupils get the best out of their education, and she has certainly brought the college up to the best standard it can possibly be.

I think Ofsted should give her the ‘Outstanding’ recognition she deserves!

–Alex Morley Zinnia Close, Basingstoke.