Surprise inspections to catch schools hiding failings Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, welcomed the new inspections. "No-notice inspections, especially where behaviour and teaching standards are of concern, will provide parents and others a true picture of schools" performance," he said. Whistleblowers have recently disclosed numerous incidences of malpractice ahead of announced Ofsted inspections. In one case, it was claimed that a school lent pupils" outstanding art work to other schools in the area, allowing them to display it on walls to impress visiting inspectors. One teacher claimed that more than a dozen troublemakers had been given bribes of up to £100 each and told to take the day off school, while another said that badly behaved pupils had been taken on a trip to Alton Towers. In future, Ofsted inspections will be focused on observing lessons and classrooms rather than studying documentation provided to them by schools. The regulator's new website, Parent View, allows parents to give their views all year which means that they now do not have to be sent questionnaires before an inspection. Sir Michael said: "We want to make sure that the public views the process as something that's rigorous and robust and there's no question that schools are not going to follow the rules." The great majority of schools conduct themselves properly, he said, but added that if there is any sense that a school is not doing so, then Ofsted must tackle it. Teaching leaders said they had "real doubts" that the plans would improve inspections and raised concerns that the change had been announced without consulting head teachers. Brian Lightman, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "We welcome moves to improve the effectiveness of inspection, but I have real doubts that no-notice inspection will accomplish this. "An effective inspection system is based on mutual trust and respect, not the premise that schools are trying to 'cheat" and need to be caught out. If it is going to lead to improvement, inspection needs to be done with schools rather than used as a beating stick. Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "If a school could conceal evidence of widespread failure in just two days, then the whole concept of inspection is flawed and Ofsted's protestations that it examines progress and behaviour over the long-term ring hollow." In the past 18 months, Ofsted has carried out a pilot of unannounced visits to schools where there were concerns about behaviour. Sir Michael said the feedback from these inspections had been "very, very positive."