Family keep pressure on Ofsted chief over headteacher’s death

THE sister of a headteacher who took her own life over a poor Ofsted report has again criticised the head of the watchdog for defending it.

Julia Waters, a professor at the University of Reading, called for reform of the school inspections framework, including the abolition of single-word gradings and the length of time between an inspection and a report, which she said had contributed to her sister’s “decline and despair”.

She said: “We do not want warm words, thoughts or sympathies. We want urgent action now.”

She called for a halt in inspections and a review of the culture of Ofsted, saying it was the “empathetic, human, correct thing to do”.

Her sister, Ruth Perry, was headteacher of Caversham Primary School when she took her life in January.

Her family and friends believe she was stressed over the result of the inspection last year which had downgraded her school from “outstanding” to “inadequate” due to concerns over safeguarding.

The quality of education and behaviour of the pupils were praised by the inspectors but the system meant that as the leadership of the school was declared inadequate, it brought down the overall grade.

Following Mrs Perry’s death, teachers from schools in the Caversham area have called for reforms to Ofsted and some have removed all mention of it on their websites in protest.

Amanda Spielman, the head of Ofsted, told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that she had no reason to doubt the report on the school and she believed the findings were “secure”. She said the inspectors had “worked with the professionalism and sensitivity that I would expect… from what I’ve seen I don’t have any reason to doubt the inspection”.

Ms Spielman acknowledged there was a “culture of fear” in schools over Ofsted inspections but attributed this to several factors.

She said “inadequate” judgements made up a “tiny” proportion overall and that the inspection process was “positive and affirming” for most schools.

She also defended the simplicity of the current system, saying: “It’s not for us to say we’re going to fundamentally change the grading system — that would have to be a bigger government decision.”

Ms Spielman has previously stated that the single overall grade “plays an integral part in the wider school system” but that Ofsted would be making some changes, including looking at quicker inspections for schools with safeguarding issues which are otherwise doing well.

She said: “I certainly recognise that distilling all that a school is and does into a single word makes some in the sector uncomfortable, particularly when there are consequences of the grade awarded.

“Government uses Ofsted’s overall grade to determine how best to support improvement. We also know that many parents find the grading system useful, whether that’s in choosing a school or to understand the one their child attends.” She was backed up by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, who said: “Parents rightly want to know how their child’s school is doing and I fully support our approach to providing a clear one-word rating to inform their decisions.”

Ms Spielman said she had not received an approach from Mrs Perry’s family but that she would be “open” to meeting with them.

Prof Waters has criticised Ms Spielman for defending Ofsted and called the proposed changes “totally inadequate”.

She said: “My sister’s death demonstrates the tragically high stakes and yet Ofsted has so far done nothing. This latest response from the chief inspector for schools is yet again totally insensitive to the situation and deaf to the urgency of the calls for change.

“Ofsted has marked its own homework and is telling us that everything is under control. I think many people would score Ofsted’s current system as ‘requires improvement’ and its response to calls for reform as ‘totally inadequate’.

“[My sister] was fine beforehand, she was not fine during and after it. It is a potentially dangerous system.”