Sister of headteacher who killed herself after Ofsted report says watchdog’s reforms aren’t enough

The sister of a headteacher who took her own life following an Ofsted inspection has criticised the school watchdog, claiming proposed reforms are not enough.

Professor Julia Waters said the Ofsted inspection at her sister Ruth Perry’s primary school in Reading had been ‘the worst day’ of her life.

Ofsted is set to introduce major changes to the school inspection system after Ms Perry died by suicide in January this year, after a report from the inspectorate found that Caversham Primary School was “good” in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be “inadequate”.

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Ms Waters said the move was “a start” but more changes were needed as they do not “adequately address the many problems that the system creates”.

“I am disappointed that no mention is made about removing harmful and misleading single-word judgments,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday.

“I can understand the need to provide clarity and simplicity for parents about an inspection, but too much is hidden or lost behind a headline judgement of just one or two words,” she added.

Professor Waters was responding to comments made on Today by Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman.

She insisted Ofsted is listening to the concerns raised in the wake of Ms Perry’s death and has been “thinking carefully about how we can revise aspects of our work without losing our clear focus on the needs of children and their parents”.

The changes include new funding for wellbeing support for teachers and school leaders, but stop short of banning single-word ratings.

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Ofsted has been under pressure from unions and Labour, who have joined calls for one-word Ofsted assessments to be abolished in the wake of Perry’s death. Education secretary Gillian Keegan has defended the system as clear and easy for parents to understand.

However, Professor Waters did call plans to remove a requirement that the inspectorates’ findings stay confidential before results are published a “very welcome, much-needed change” and also welcomed the additional funding for mental health support.

Earlier, schools were not allowed to see how inspectors arrived at their conclusion, thereby making the process of challenging the decision via Ofsted’s complaints more difficult.

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The watchdog’s officials will still turn up with only a day’s notice, but there will be “more clarity” about the year schools are likely to be inspected.

A change, coming in from September, will see inspection reports refer to the school, rather than individuals, when discussing areas of weakness.

Ofsted added that inspectors will be clear that it is up to a headteacher to decide which colleagues, or others, they share their inspection outcome with – ahead of the report being finalised.

Responding to Ms Spielman’s points, Professor Waters said: “Nothing she has said would have helped my sister. She didn’t last three months – she lasted 54 days with that knowledge.”

Explaining why the ‘inhumane’ confidentiality agreement was so harmful, Professor Waters said: ‘It (the draft report) says categorically that teachers must not share that information and that Ofsted would consider it a serious breach of confidentiality and take appropriate action.

“She told me, her sister, because she told me everything, but it was always couched in this dreadful ‘Don’t tell anyone - I’ll lose my job if I get found out’.”

“Even unburdening herself was a burden because she was so terrified that she would lose her job – lose her school which she had loved and led for 16 years.”

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Ms Waters went on to explain one of the reasons why her sister found the inadequate judgement so difficult was that she had invited Ofsted into the school three years previously, determined to get everything in place and believing it would be useful for their school improvement work.

Professor Waters said: “The feedback that she received from the team overseen by Amanda Spielman was glowing - it identified no failings whatsoever. They commented explicitly on the fact that staff are vigilant and safeguarding leads are tenacious.

“One of the reasons that Ruth found that inadequate judgment so devastating was precisely because she had invited Ofsted in three years before and wanted to make sure she had everything in place.

“She was given assurances that the school was functioning well and that their outstanding judgment was valid.”

Schools graded inadequate overall as a result of ineffective safeguarding – where all other judgements are good or better – will see inspectors return within three months of an inspection report being published.

This is more quickly than has previously been the case and if the school has been able to resolve the safeguarding concerns it is likely to see its overall grade improve, Ofsted said.

Also from September schools will be given more clarity about the threshold for effective versus ineffective safeguarding, the watchdog said, adding that ineffective safeguarding will be described more clearly in inspection reports “to help reassure parents and others that these judgements are not made lightly”.

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