Risks still present after head's death, sister says

Ruth Perry was the head at Caversham Primary School in Reading

The sister of a head teacher who took her own life following an inspection has said "preventable risks" are still present for school staff.

Ruth Perry died in January 2023 after an Ofsted inspection downgraded Caversham Primary School in Reading from "outstanding" to "inadequate".

Her sister, Prof Julia Waters, told Reading Borough Council's education committee more needed to be done to support staff suffering with "excessive workloads".

Following the report's publication in July, the council said it "fully acknowledged" the areas that needed further improvement.

The authority commissioned an independent learning review after it was issued with a prevention of future deaths notice following an inquest into Ms Perry's death.

Speaking at a meeting of the council's education committee, Prof Waters said, as her sister's employer, it needed to implement "urgent, lasting actions".

"I'm concerned the independent learning review focuses too much on the national educational context, ambiguities and constraints and not enough into what you have the power you have the power to control locally," she said.

"You need to do more to recognise what went wrong and what you could and should have done differently."

She also said she was "deeply troubled" at her sister's "dangerous" levels of work being characterised in the report as "going above and beyond the call of duty".

"The local authority needs to do more to reduce excessive workloads, especially when an employee is in acute distress," she said.

The family has previously questioned why there was no formal appeal against the Ofsted findings before they were made public.

Prof Waters welcomed the 30 measures already taken by the council as part of its action plan following the report, but said it still "had a long way to go".

"While it's sadly too late for Ruth, you can still put things right for others," she told the committee.

"Many preventable risks are still present which you urgently need to address.

"The changes are a start but you need to do more - include providing greater in-person support during an Ofsted inspection, clarifying areas of responsibility particularly around duty of care and clarifying how concerns could be raised about a colleague's wellbeing."

Prof Julia Waters addressed Reading Borough Council's education committee

Among the councillors responding to Prof Waters' statement, Doug Cresswell said the learning review had been "somewhat incomplete".

"Hopefully we can grow past that and learn fully," he said.

Meri O'Connell said Prof Water's suggestions were "sensible, simple logical steps".

"We really need to create a culture of openness - of support, not blame, of putting things right."

Committee chair Alice Mpofu-Coles suggested a further meeting to discuss Prof Waters recommendations.

Following the publication of the learning review, the council's chief executive Jackie Yates said: “While acknowledging the proactive approach taken by Reading in supporting schools before, during and after Ofsted inspections, including at Caversham Primary, the report also highlights a number of areas for further improvement which we fully acknowledge and which we intend to measure progress against through an associated action plan."

The system of one-word Ofsted judgements on schools, which was also highlighted by the coroner, was ended by the Labour government in September.