Halt Ofsted inspections after Ruth Perry's death, says sister

Pausing Ofsted inspections would be the "empathetic, human, correct thing to do", says the sister of a head teacher who took her own life after an inspection - as the watchdog announces some changes to how it works.

Ruth Perry died while waiting for a report that downgraded her school.

Her sister, Prof Julia Waters, wants a full review to take place.

Ofsted is making some changes, such as how it manages complaints - but will keep its one-word grading system.

Chief inspector Amanda Spielman said the schools watchdog for England, "will continue to listen" to try to make improvements.

Ofsted has said its thoughts are with Ms Perry's family, and described her death as a tragedy.

The family believes the anxiety and stress following the inspection led to Ms Perry's suicide.

"She was fine beforehand, she was not fine during and after it. It is a potentially dangerous system," Prof Waters told BBC News.

She added that they had not heard directly from Ofsted about the concerns the family has raised.

"It adds to the hurt, it adds to the outrage, it adds to our feeling of injustice about what happened to Ruth," she said.

Prof Waters said she had been overwhelmed by the number of people getting in touch and speaking out about their concerns with the inspection process after Ms Perry's death."It confirms our worst fears, that this is something that has been going on for a long time," she said.

She wants inspections to be paused so that an independent inquiry into what happened at Ms Perry's school, in Reading, can take place - as well as a review of the culture of inspections at Ofsted.

Ruth Perry, who took her own life in January, had been waiting for an Ofsted report rating her school as "inadequate"

In a statement, Ms Spielman outlined the changes Ofsted are making which include:

• Looking at how inspectors can return more quickly to schools who have work to do on safeguarding but are otherwise preforming well, in order to reflect improvements in their judgements

• Making the complaints process more responsive, which would involve issues being addressed during the inspection rather than being considered afterwards

• Holding briefings for head teachers whose schools have not been inspected for a long time

"We are not deaf to the calls for change, or insensitive to the needs of schools and their staff," Ms Spielman added.

Prof Waters said this latest response was "totally insensitive to the situation" and was far from "anything like a meaningful response to the growing calls for reform".

Caversham Primary School was downgraded by Ofsted after inspectors decided that checks on staff and record-keeping of concerns about children were inadequate.

Under the current system, this means the leadership of the school is declared inadequate, as well as the school overall.

The quality of education and behaviour at the school were praised by inspectors.

• School leaders' union could take Ofsted to court

• The dam has burst on Ofsted strength of feeling

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, most schools were inspected roughly once every four years. However all visits were put on hold in the pandemic.

Outstanding schools were also exempt for eight years up to 2020, which means some are now now facing inspection for the first time in a decade.

Some academy school leaders have said Ofsted is not fully considering the impact of the pandemic.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said standards on keeping children safe would not be "watered down", and she continued to support a "clear one-word rating" to inform parents' decisions.

She told MPs earlier this week she would be willing to meet Ms Perry's family.

What is Ofsted?

Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, inspects and reports on anywhere that provides education for young people in England - including schools, nurseries and childminders.

Schools or organisations are inspected every four years or 30 months depending on their status, and are then graded accordingly:

• 1 - outstanding

• 2 - good

• 3 - requires improvement

• 4 - inadequate

Many parents rely on Ofsted ratings to help them choose a school or nursery for their child.

Why are outstanding schools being downgraded?

Following Ruth Perry's death, some school leaders and teaching unions called for a review of the impact of inspections and the current system of one-word grades.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Jon Coles, the Chief Executive of United Learning, which runs 72 state academy schools across England, and a former education civil servant who led the improvement of London's schools, said Ofsted is a positive thing and does contribute to public understanding of schools.

He said inspectors produce a four-page report at the end of a full inspection: "The overall single-word grade and then the four single-word judgments are accompanied by quite a lot of detail and explanation."

Julie McCulloch, from the Association of School & College Leaders (ASCL), said while some of proposals put forward by Ofsted are helpful, they are concerned that Ofsted "aren't prepared to look at the single-word judgements".

She agrees there is a longer report but "people tend to concentrate on that grade rather than on the nuances behind it, and when we talk to our members, they say the biggest cause of stress around inspection is that reductive approach that tends to capture most of what a school does in a single word or phrase".

In March, the National Education Union (NEU), school leaders' union NAHT, and the ASCL called for inspections to be halted.

The recruitment process for a new chief inspector of Ofsted is already under way, because Ms Spielman is standing down later this year.

Prof Waters says change can't wait until then: "There is an urgent problem in Ofsted, and it needs to be dealt with urgently. What happened to Ruth could happen again."

A full inquest will consider the circumstances around Ruth Perry's suicide later this year.

Additional reporting by Vanessa Clarke

If you have been affected by issues raised in this article you can visit the BBC Action Line pages, or contact or Samaritans.

Tested to the Limit

The story of head teacher, Ruth Perry, who took her life after her school's rating was downgraded by Ofsted.

Watch now on BBC iPlayer (UK Only)