Ruth Perry's sister angry over lack of Ofsted change

Prof Julia Waters said it was upsetting not to have made progress on Ofsted changes after the death of her sister Ruth Perry

The sister of a head teacher who took her own life waiting for a downgraded Ofsted report has described being infuriated at the government's refusal to drop one-word judgements.

Prof Julia Waters said Ruth Perry - who worked for Caversham Primary in Reading - told her news of her school being rated inadequate had been "preying on her mind constantly for 54 days" before her death last year.

She told BBC Radio Berkshire's Sarah Walker there was "overwhelming evidence" one-word summaries caused harm.

The Department for Education has repeatedly insisted the one-word system provides a succinct independent evaluation of schools that it intends to keep.

Ruth Perry took her own life while waiting for an Ofsted report to be published

Prof Waters said: "As far as she was concerned the worst was yet to come.

"I think the thing that frightened her more than anything was the public shaming that goes with one-word [judgements] - going from 'outstanding' which is quite a burden to carry, to try to maintain those expectations - to go from that to the bottom grade 'inadequate' felt like the most terrible fall from grace.

"She was really, really frightened about what the parents would say, about what the local community would think and she was also worried that she would lose her job because an 'inadequate' judgement almost always leads to a forced academisation of the school … and then likely replacement of the senior management team or certainly the head teacher.

"The fear of the public humiliation, the shame, the feeling that she'd let the whole school and community down… and she had the pressing worry that she could lose her livelihood."

Prof Julia Waters (left) and her sister Ruth Perry are seen here on a family holiday to Italy in 1996

Prof Waters added it was "really upsetting and infuriating" not to have made progress on changing the system given the "number of hours" she had spent meeting education secretary Gillian Keegan.

A coroner previously said the inspection contributed to her death.

A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “Ruth Perry’s death was a tragedy and we are determined to learn from it. We accepted the coroner’s findings in full and have responded to every single recommendation.”

A DfE spokesperson said it had no plans to remove single-phrase Ofsted judgments.

It added: "Ofsted's independent inspections are vital to ensuring students are safe and receive the education they deserve."