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Headteacher’s suicide sparks debate about Ofsted inspections

Ruth Perry took her own life after a report downgraded her school from ‘Outstanding’ to ‘Inadequate’. Teachers and policy-makers are urging for a national boycott of Ofsted.

Education unions have called for a boycott of Ofsted, and urged teachers to refuse inspectors access to their schools, after 53-year-old headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life. 

Perry was considered an educator ‘in her prime’, who worked at Caversham Primary School in Reading. Her suicide was triggered by a scathing Ofsted report which downgraded her school from ‘Outstanding’ to ‘Inadequate’. 

Ms Perry’s family said the headteacher was placed under almost unmanageable stress by Ofsted, and regarded the November inspection as the ‘worst day of her life’. 

Ruth’s death has triggered an outpouring of support amongst educational professionals, forcing many to reconsider Ofsted’s legitimacy as an organisation. 

The public outcry over Ofsted inspections has bubbled for years, Perry’s suicide acting as a watershed moment in the national discourse around Britain’s educational system and the dogmatic institutions that serve both to sustain and destroy it. 

Headteacher’s around the country have empathised with Perry’s story and shared their own experiences of pressure under Ofsted’s rule.

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary for the National Education Union (NEU) said a new system was required that prioritises ‘the welfare and wellbeing of the leaders and staff working so hard with children and young people in their community’, ‘we need a system which is supportive, effective, and fair’. 

Ofsted was introduced in 1992 as a way of informing parents about school performance and ensuring the maintenance and improvement of standards. But it has long been criticised by those working in the profession due to the high stakes pressure it places on teachers. 

The pandemic has only heightened the toll on schools, who are facing high absence rates, fewer staff, and learning delays amongst children. 

Yet following a Covid-led pause on inspections, Ofsted reintroduced them in 2021 with an expedited timeline that will see all schools and colleges inspected by 2025. 

Post-covid, Ofsted also announced an end to the exemption of schools previously marked as ‘outstanding’, meaning all headteachers are constantly living ‘in fear of the call’ that comes the day prior to an inspection. 

Perry’s school hadn’t been graded in over 13 years, due to a previous ‘Outstanding’ grade. Despite a ‘good’ grade in almost every category, Ofsted downgraded Caversham school in terms of leadership and management, where it believes there was inadequate safeguarding – particularly in terms of supervision at break times. 

This brought the school down to ‘Inadequate’, the lowest possible grading. 

A 2019 shift in the Ofsted inspection system has been blamed for these more unpredictable rankings, with results being driven by more subjective factors like ‘substance of education’, rather than results and data. 

Many believe that Ofsted’s grading system is at the heart of the issue, and the core takeaway from Perry’s death. Grading schools ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’, or ‘Inadequate’, is too simple an approach that can’t adequately factor in the complexities and hard-work that goes into running a school. 

‘If you remove the grade’ one headteacher said, ‘a huge amount of that pressure would disappear pretty much overnight’. 

Ofsted inspections have long been considered extreme. But Ruth Perry’s death marks a significant moment in the public perception of the organisation. 

Perry’s sister, Julia Waters, has urged schools to boycott inspections and refuse access to Ofsted officials. Many are listening. 

The NEU has received over 40,000 signatures from professional educators for a petition calling to abolish Ofsted inspections altogether. It will be handed to the Department of Education this week.

Ofsted has yet to comment. But regional director for the south east, Matthew Purves, shared his condolences for Perry’s family this week. 

‘Our thoughts remain with Mrs Perry’s family, friends and everyone in the Caversham Primary School Community’.

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