EDUCATION professionals today warned that schools will fail education watchdog inspections if teachers are not told what is expected of them.

And a leading teaching union said East Lancashire schools "will topple like dominoes" into special measures if something is not done.

Under new Ofsted guidelines teaching which was previously accepted as satisfactory is no longer good enough.

And that means classroom inspections will not make the grade unless local education authority bosses organise more training and co-ordination to spell out what is expected, teachers warned.

The new Ofsted framework, which came into being in September, has already put two Blackburn with Darwen schools in to special measures after they failed to meet new standards.

School governors are also at a loss as to what the new rules mean for them. If they fail to meet any of their statutory requirements, like providing a joint act of worship, school leadership will now be described as unsatisfactory.

Ian Kendrick, assistant director for school improvement at Blackburn with Darwen Council told an education overview and scrutiny committee, that the Ofsted inspections were "more an art than a science".

He said the LEA had no way of predicting the implications of the framework despite a visit by David Bell, HMI chief inspector, to the authority last year. The number of schools put into special measures in the autumn term last year almost doubled compared to the year before. Mr Bell attributed the increase to the "robustness" of the new inspections.

Paul Adnitt, head teacher at St James CE Primary in Clitheroe, said: "We need to see more advice from the LEA as soon as possible to make it clear or teachers will be caught out."

Jack Peet, representative of the chair of governors forum, said: "There is no clarity. There needs to be more classroom training and observations for teachers and guidance for governors."

And NUT executive member Simon Jones said the new targets were "unachieveable".

He added: "The new framework is a huge injustice to teachers and they need to be better informed as to what is required of them. Schools will topple like dominoes into special measures."

David Fann, National Association of Headteachers executive council member for Lancashire, said: "It has taken a long time to unpick the new arrangements. Now it is time for all heads, teachers and governors to be told what is expected as there are so many inconsistencies."

Blackburn with Darwen education bosses have pledged a series of measures to help teachers understand the new rules including more targeted information, more observation time in other schools for teachers and an overall focus on consistency.

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said there was a national "feeling of concern" when the new framework was introduced. "We helped and warned our schools to prepare for the changes."