Preparations for Bradford's schools shake-up are to come under scrutiny from Government education standards inspectors.

A team of inspectors from Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, will begin its three-week long examination of the district's Local Education Authority on February 28, with visits to Council officers and schools.

An Ofsted spokesman said: "We will be looking at Bradford to look at its forward planning to deal with the reorganisation, both how it has planned for it so far and its forward planning for it in the future."

The inspection will be complete by the end of March, with a report published in mid to late-May.

The Telegraph & Argus revealed this week that preparations are being made for scores of temporary classrooms to arrive before September, and other schools will have to teach youngsters on split sites because building work has not yet started on the majority of the district's schools.

The education shake-up will move the district's schools from a three-tier system of first, middle and upper schools to a two-tier one of primary and secondary schools.

And yesterday's T&A called for the process of the reorganisation to be clear and open to the district's school staff, parents and children.

Documents from Ofsted say: "The aim of inspection is to review and report on the way Local Education Authorities (LEAs) perform their functions and, in particular, to determine the contributions LEAs support, including support to individual pupils, to school improvements and to high standards of achievement."

Each inspection seeks to answer the four questions:

Does the LEA manage its functions effectively and economically?

Does the LEA exercise its functions in a way which promotes high standards by improving the quality of education?

Does the LEA exercise its functions effectively to ensure that children are not harmed in school, that racism is addressed and that other bodies responsible for the protection of children are helped?

Does the LEA comply with legal requirements such as equal opportunities and disability discrimination?

The key functions of the LEA are outlined under four headings: school improvement, special educational provision, access and strategic management.

An spokesman for Bradford Council said: "Ofsted will begin a three-week inspection of the Local Education Authority on February 28. The theme of the inspection will be the LEA's support for school improvements."

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