Nursery World - Rachel Buckler: Ruth Perry's inquest outcome suggests Ofsted should be open to wider independent scrutiny

Buckler says that the inquest of Ruth Perry and Ofsted's contributing role in her death, highlights concerns she has raised for years about the way some early years inspectors judge safeguarding and child protection knowledge.

Given the recent inquest findings into the tragic death of head teacher Ruth Perry, conversations consuming the sector are once again and quite understandably centred upon Ofsted and how as regulators in England they fulfil their legal duties to raise standards of care and education for children.

While the broader aspects that led to Ruth to take her own life when her primary school in Caversham was judged inadequate by inspectors in November 2022 continue to be explored, there seems to be two significant topics of conversation right now.

The first centres on the how Ofsted inspect the safeguarding elements of their Education Inspection Framework (EIF) and their subsequent conclusions that determine an inadequate judgment when practice is deemed to be unsafe.

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