The phrase "teacher knows best" came about for very good reason. We rely heavily on our teachers to educate our children, not just academically but in manners and morals too. For most of us, it means we back our teachers to do the right thing by our children and to set standards that they will live by for the rest of their lives.

Our trust is well placed, but it should not mean that schools can take the "teacher knows best" principle too far. We have a right to be informed about how our schools are doing and make our own judgements about how well they are educating our children.

We report this week how many local primary school heads would be prepared to take action to disrupt the publication of school league tables. These tables contain details of how schools have performed in the Key Stage Two Standard Assessment Tests.

Are schools really saying that these results should be kept to themselves, that parents and prospective parents do not have the right to see how a school is performing?

The Oxford Times, in common with just about very local newspaper in this country, publishes the Key Stage Two results because we know parents are interested in them. We do not rank schools because we understand the shortcomings of statistics and trust our readers to make their own judgement. Schools should trust their parents to do the same.