Teachers and head teachers call for Ofsted to be replaced

NEU deputy general secretary Niamh Sweeney leads the group handing in their petition to the Department for Education

Teachers and head teachers handed a petition to the government on Thursday, calling for Ofsted to be replaced.

The petition was started before head teacher Ruth Perry took her own life while waiting for an Ofsted report.

Ms Perry's family have blamed her death on the "intolerable pressure" of the inspection, which downgraded her primary school to "inadequate".

The Department for Education says inspections are "hugely important" and "a legal requirement".

The National Education Union wants Ofsted, England's schools' watchdog, replaced with a "supportive, effective and fair" accountability system.

The petition, signed by 52,000 people, also calls on the government to work with teachers and leaders to look at how these work in other high-performing education nations.

Estyn, which looks after inspections in Wales, has replaced a single overall grade with an overview of findings focusing on a school's strengths and areas for development and a separate report summary for parents.

• Why are outstanding schools being downgraded?

• Schools cut Ofsted references in tribute to head

Following an inspection in England, schools are rated:

• outstanding

• good

• requires improvement

• inadequate

It was "absurd that the whole school life is condensed into a single-word judgement", NEU deputy general secretary Niamh Sweeney said.

Accountability was important but "the inspection and the surveillance culture" was making high numbers of staff leave, she added.

At the scene - Joe Campbell, BBC South

The scrum of reporters, TV and stills cameras gathered outside the front door of the Department for Education was a mark of how headteacher Ruth Perry's death after a gruelling Ofsted inspection has caught the public's attention.

People had been asked to sign, before Ruth's sister spoke out, laying the blame for the late head taking her own life at the door of the schools' inspectorate.

NEU Deputy General Secretary Niamh Sweeney didn't want to talk about Mrs Perry specifically, despite Ruth being a union member, but she couldn't ignore the fact today was taking place under the shadow cast by the family's decision to speak out.

A few minutes' walk away, a parent from Reading was leading a vigil outside the door of Ofsted's headquarters. The event was never going to be a major one, taking place in the middle of the school and working day - in fact, the press outnumbered those taking part - but for the organiser it was the location that counted.

A week after the BBC broke the story, there was a feeling that, so far, Ofsted had failed to consider its role in events, putting its fingers in its ears to block out the growing clamour for changes to the inspections system.

Three teachers' unions, including the NEU, have called for inspections to be paused and a review.

Some head teachers are also removing references to Ofsted from websites, job adverts and letters, in tribute to Ms Perry.

Ruth Perry was the head at Caversham Primary School, in Reading

And James Denny, a parent from Reading who works with schools to help children experience more arts and culture, is organising a vigil outside Ofsted's offices in London, on Thursday.

He remembers as a child in the 1990s the fear an Ofsted inspection brought schools but "things have got so much worse since then".

He was not campaigning against Ofsted inspectors, Mr Denny said, but the way the watchdog worked "is no longer fit for purpose".

The Department for Education said inspections held schools to account for their educational standards and "parents greatly rely on the ratings to give them confidence in choosing the right school for their child".